Suicide Bomber in Wuxi Kills Officer

Suicide Bomber in Wuxi Kills Officer
10/25/2007
Updated:
10/25/2007

Around 9:30 a.m. on October 22, a bomb went off in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, killing a police officer. The bomber, whose house is slated for demolition had a hand blown off in the incident. According to an insider, the building demolition of the Wanda Plaza project is located near Xinhua Bookstore at the city’s Heliekou.

The suicide bomber is a single man, 48 years old with a history of mental problems. After several failed attempts at negotiating with a local businessman from the demolition company, he decided to try a different tactic.

On October 22, he entered the demolition office once again, this time with a homemade bomb. During the heated dispute, both sides threw punches at one another and police were sent in to mediate. When officers entered the room, the bomber triggered the explosive device.

The bomber and a seriously injured officer were quickly rushed to the hospital. The officer died at 5 p.m. that day.

So what led this man to take such extreme measures? The insider explained that when the bomber was young, his girlfriend left him after he didn’t get a flat allocated by his work unit in the welfare-oriented housing allocation system. The event left him emotionally scarred. He developed mental health problems and remains single to this day.

The bomber said that he couldn’t understand why developers needed to demolish such a large residential area, adding that the demolition company has a poor attitude. He said that he was really hurt when they had beaten him.

His self-made detonator was tested successfully the day before and he told others about his plan but they all thought he was joking. It took everyone by surprise when he went through with his plan. According to the insider, China’s Property Law (Wu Quan Fa) became effective this October, but the authorities have still turned a blind eye to relocation households’ pleas and requests. Houses are forcefully demolished, further intensifying conflict. The bomb attack is so far the most serious incident resulting from the Wanda Plaza demolition.