A Chinese attacker stabbed two Americans, killing the man and wounding the woman, who were attending the Olympic Games on Saturday.The man also injured a female Chinese tour guide before leaping to his death around noon from the second floor of the Drum Tower, a popular Beijing tourist site, according to reports.
The USOC said the two Americans were family members of a coach for the U.S. men's indoor volleyball team. Their names have not been released, however. The attacker was a 47-year-old man from the eastern Chinese city Hangzhou, a spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Government Information Office said.
The attack took place at noon on the second floor of the ancient Drum Tower, which lies on the north-south axis that runs from the Forbidden City to the main Olympic venue.
Attacks on foreigners in China are extremely rare. A Canadian model was murdered last month in Shanghai, but police said that was because 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 to death by a police sniper.
Shanghai and Beijing are still safer than most foreign 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.
The U.S. volleyball team are due to play their opening game against Venezuela on Sunday.
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