A Chinese national Friday opened fire and killed two Vietnamese border soldiers, four of his countrymen and himself with a gun he grabbed from a local border gate security officer, who was trying to stop more than a dozen of illegal immigrants from entering the Southeast Asian country via the northern border.

“Seven people were killed in the shooting, including two Vietnamese border soldiers and five Chinese nationals,” Nguyen Van Doc, chairman of the northern Vietnamese province of Quang Ninh, where the incident took place, said in a statement at 4:00 pm.

A group of 16 Chinese nationals were attempting to illegally cross the border near the Bac Phong Sinh border gate in Quang Ninh when they were detected by authorities at 4:20 am the same day, the provincial People’s Committee said in an official announcement.

There are four women and two children among the illegal immigrants.

Officers then asked these foreigners to go to a station at the border gate to complete procedures to repatriate them to China.

At 12:00 pm, while the officers were working with them, one of the Chinese rushed to a border gate security guard and snatched his gun.

The Chinese man opened fire and killed one border soldier. 

The Chinese nationals then dashed to sabotage the border gate station. When besieged by Vietnamese officers, some of them hurt themselves while others attempted to commit suicide by jumping from one of the upper floors of the station.

The Chinese shooter then fired at the crowd, killing another Vietnamese border soldier and four of his countrymen before taking his own life with a shot in the head.

Some were injured during the shooting, including four Vietnamese border soldiers.

The Bac Phong Sinh border defense post has conducted formalities to deport some of the illegal immigrants back to China, while those involved have been detained for investigation.

Doc, the Quang Ninh chairman, confirmed to Tuoi Tre that the firing was not a terrorist attack as some local websites have reported.

Provincial authorities are working with their Chinese counterparts to settle the issue in accordance with Vietnamese and Chinese laws, as well as international practice, Doc said.

The chairman added that the security situation at the border gate has returned to normal.

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