US Coach's Family Member Killed

[Icarus]

US Coach's Family Member Killed

By ROHAN SULLIVAN


BEIJING (Aug. 9) - Two family members of a coach for a U.S. Olympic volleyball team were attacked by a knife-wielding Chinese man at a tourist site in central Beijing on Saturday, leaving one of them dead and the other seriously injured.


The U.S. Olympic Committee identified the two Americans as family members of a coach for the U.S. Olympic Men's Indoor Volleyball Team.


"The two family members were stabbed during an attack by what local law enforcement authorities have indicated was a lone assailant. One of the family members was killed and the other seriously injured," the committee said in a statement.


The attack occurred as the Americans were visiting the historic Drum Tower, a 46.7-meter-high arched wooden structure dating back to 1272 that has been rebuilt twice over the centuries.


China's official Xinhua News Agency quoted Beijing authorities as saying a Chinese man attacked the two Americans, a man and a woman, at about 12:20 PM local time on an upper floor of the tower, killing the man, injuring the woman, and also injuring their female Chinese tour guide.


The attacker then leaped to his death from the tower, the report said. Based on an ID card found on his body, it said, he was identified as 47-year-old Tang Yongming, a man from Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province in east China.


A Beijing government official told Kyodo News that a "sharp implement" was used in the attack, but gave no other details. No apparent motive has also been given for the assault, which occurred on the second day of the Beijing Olympic Games.


U.S. President George W. Bush, who is in Beijing for the Olympics, told reporters he was "saddened by the attack on an American family and their Chinese tour guide today in Beijing."
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families," he said, adding that the U.S. government has offered to provide any assistance the family of the victims need.
The International Olympic Committee also issued a statement after the incident, extending its "sincere condolences to the family and teammates of those involved and to all members of the U.S. delegation."


A Kyodo News reporter visiting the scene of the attack found it sealed off and a large crowd gathered near the tower as police carried out investigation inside it.


Beijing authorities previously said about half a million foreign tourists are expected to stay in the city during the Olympic Games.


In its security assessment for Americans visiting China, the U.S. State Department advises them to use caution and to be alert to their surroundings at all times.


The advisory says that while China's major metropolitan areas are "relatively safe," especially in comparison with similar sized cities in other developing countries, "the number of criminal incidents, including those directed against Americans, continues to rise."


In another incident of Olympic-related violence, a reporter for New Zealand television covering the Games was attacked and slightly injured Friday night, TVNZ reported Saturday.


Steve Robilliard, an Australian Broadcasting Corp. sports commentator working for TVNZ, said he was returning to his hotel from dinner around 10 p.m. Friday night when he was set upon by a youth who had been urinating against a wall.


"He picked up this broken chair, ran after me and threw it at me," he said.
The attack caused cuts to his wrist and arm, but he did not require medical attention.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

[Talon Sky]

This is exactly why I never want to go to China (and a few other countries). Too much hate against Americans.

That, and....you know....lead in the hotdogs or something ;p

[Adona Mara]

Actually, I've found that there are very few people who are, at least, openly hostile to Americans. Most of them don't blame the individuals they meet, or they like Americans (and America) or they're just indifferent. The problem, as with most problems of this nature, are a few people who make their dislike active and volatile. And according to most reports, these people weren't wearing anything that made them stand out as American. This seems to be a general anger against "westerners." I wonder if it's because of the number of people the government of China stole houses from to build their stadium; or maybe the harsher crackdown on security in a nation where freedom is already a rare thing.

Could be mental illness caused by all that lead in the hotdogs or something, too.

[Adona Mara]

Just an update:

Father of former Olympian killed in Beijing



By BETH DUFF-BROWN, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING - The fatal stabbing of the father of a former Olympian at a Beijing landmark cast a sad shadow over the first full day of Olympic competition Saturday, just hours after China's jubilant opening of the Summer Games.

Todd and Barbara Bachman of Lakeville, Minn. — parents of 2004 volleyball Olympian Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman and in-laws of U.S. men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon — were attacked by a Chinese man while visiting the 13th-century Drum Tower.

The U.S. Olympic Committee confirmed Bachman died from knife wounds and that Barbara Bachman suffered life-threatening injuries. She and their Chinese tour guide, who was also injured in the attack, were being treated in a Beijing hospital.

Elisabeth Bachman was with them at the time of the attack, but uninjured. Her father was chief executive officer for Bachman's, Inc., a home-and-garden center based in Minneapolis.

The assailant, Tang Yongming, 47, leapt to his death from a 130-foot high balcony on the Drum Tower, just five miles from the main Olympics site, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Relatives said Barbara Bachman had undergone surgery and was in intensive care at a Beijing hospital.

"The next 24 hours will be critical," said Dale Bachman, Todd's second cousin.

Two of Todd and Barbara Bachman's other adult daughters were flying to China to be with their mother and Elisabeth, Dale Bachman said at a news conference in Minneapolis.

According to Dale Bachman, Todd Bachman was walking a few steps behind his wife and daughter at a Beijing tourist site when he was attacked by a knife-wielding stranger. Barbara Bachman heard the commotion and turned to help her husband.

"That's when she was attacked," Dale Bachman said. "To me, that was a strong indication of her love. She is a fabulous person."

The midday attack sent shock waves through the games precinct after the Olympics' spectacular opening ceremony had set an ebullient tone. President Bush, in the Chinese capital for the games, expressed sadness while American athletes and Olympics officials reacted with disbelief.

There was no indication that the assailant knew that his victims had any connection to the games. "For all intents, it appears to be a random attack by a deranged man," an American member of the International Olympic Committee, Jim Easton, told The Associated Press. "The only thing we've heard is they were not identifiable except for a small volleyball pin which would probably be invisible to a guy."

Easton said the attack has stunned the Olympic community.

"It's certainly a down day, certainly for the U.S. people," he said. "Here it is supposed to be a great time of happiness and peace and all that. That's what we work hard for, then for one person to be able to put a dark cloud on that."

The U.S. women's indoor volleyball team heard about the killing of their former teammate's father before they took on Japan in a match Saturday. After their victory, player Logan Tom was obviously shaken.

"God, we all love Wiz," she said. "It's hard to put it in words. That's not something that's supposed to happen."

Tom then turned away, crying.

"It's just tragic," said U.S. woman's basketball coach Anne Donovan. "I don't know if there's another word for it. We said a prayer for them in the locker room. I get goosebumps talking about it. It's something obviously that just changes the events right now for the Olympic Games."

Violent crime against foreigners is rare in tightly controlled China, and the assault at the Drum Tower occurred despite major security measures that have blanketed the capital city during the Olympics: A 100,000-strong security force plus countless volunteer guards have been deployed to protect against any trouble.

Beijing's Communist leaders are hypersensitive about anything that could take the shine off the games. China's Foreign Ministry said it had no immediate comment on the attack.

Interpol said initial investigations found nothing indicating the murder was linked to terrorism or organized crime.

"So far, our database check and preliminary analysis suggest that today's murder-suicide was an isolated, though brutal, murder of one person and assault on two others," said Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.

Tang's name was run through computers containing more than 178,000 individuals, including 12,000 suspected terrorists, and came up blank. But Noble noted that the investigation was not complete.

Interpol said Tang had apparently recently divorced and had not been seen by relatives for two months.

U.S. Ambassador Clark T. Randt visited the victims in hospital, and the embassy issued a statement later that said the attack "appears to be a senseless act of violence."

"We don't believe this was targeted at American citizens, and we don't believe this has anything to do with the Olympics," embassy spokeswoman Susan Stevenson said.

Attacks on foreigners in China are extremely rare. A Canadian model was murdered last month in Shanghai — police said she stumbled onto a burglary. In March, a screaming, bomb-strapped hostage-taker who commandeered a bus with 10 Australians aboard in the popular tourist city of Xi'an was shot dead by a police sniper.

Shanghai and Beijing are still safer than most cities of their size. Punishments for crimes against foreigners are heavier than for crimes against Chinese, and police-linked neighborhood watch groups are highly vigilant. Chinese are not allowed to own guns. Still, the U.S. government has warned Americans against muggings, beatings and even carjackings, especially in the nightlife and shopping districts of large cities.

The Drum Tower is one of few ancient structures still in fast-developing Beijing. Long ago, drummers pounded their massive instruments on the hour to let people in the imperial city know the time. It is located on an important central axis of the city, to the north of the Forbidden City, which was home to the emperor.

___

Steve Wilson in Beijing contributed to this report.