06 October 2006
Two Tibetans dead after college shooting in Gansu
(RFA; Sing Tao Daily) Two senior college officials have died following a shooting incident at a teacher training college in the area traditionally known as Amdo in Gansu province. Separate sources confirmed the deaths of two top school officials in the shooting incident, at the Hezuo Teacher Training College in Kanlho (Chin: Gannan) prefecture during the prestigious college’s 20th anniversary celebrations in late September, according to Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) Tibetan service. Lobsang (Chin: Luo Buzang) principal of the Hezuo Teacher Training College, shot Yang Zhihong, head of the school’s Communist Party unit, killing him on the spot, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He then shot himself, and died two days later from gunshot wounds. According to a report by Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily, the case has shocked the Chinese Ministry of Education, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, and Gansu provincial leaders and senior officials. The authorities have carefully avoided mentioning the incident, and banned media coverage. The reasons for the violence are unclear, though there were apparently personal differences between the two men.