A man described as the “Chinese Rambo” for a string of killings, including a recent armed robbery that left two people dead in Chongqing, is the focus of a massive police manhunt, according to domestic media.
Zhou Kehua, 42, is said to have shot and killed a woman in front of the Bank of China before he took her handbag with 250,000 yuan ($40,000) and left by motorcycle Friday before he shot a pursuing officer and killed him, reported state-run media. It is also believed he has killed around nine other people over a several-year span.
A bank guard who tried to apprehend him was also shot, but not fatally.
“The security guard was shot in the right arm. It scared everyone, and no one else dared to stand in his way,” Zhu Xiaoying, a milk shop proprietor, told the state-run China Daily.
Zhu said that she called the police but received no response. Authorities did not arrive until a half-hour later after victims had already been taken to the hospital.
Police began searching Gele Mountain and discovered a shirt, cigarette boxes, wires, and other items in a mountain cave, believing that it is where Zhou was staying.
Chongqing resident Song Yang told state-run Global Times that after the manhunt began, “a group of police officers could be seen about every 100 meters (328 feet)” near Gele Mountain.
While Zhou—who has mainly struck cities around the Yangtze River since 2004—is being dubbed a serial killer by state media. His motives appear to be based on financial gain, as he usually kills in order to steal large sums of money.
Bill Bishop, the editor of China news aggregator website Sinocism, wrote that Zhou “is like a Chinese Rambo ... except evil,” referring to the action films starring Sylvester Stallone, and noted that “his evasion skills are remarkable” for apparently escaping police capture for years.
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