On the evening of November 27, more than a dozen young men armed with machetes, sticks, and other weapons broke into the home of Yuan Fengjun, a resident of Group Four, Sandaogou Village, Sandougou Town, Guazhou County. They went on a rampage, injuring four members of Yuan's family and four relatives who were visiting. Four of the injured, with more serious wounds, were hospitalized. More than ten days after the incident, the police summoned some of the attackers, but no compulsory measures were taken against any of them, leaving the victims utterly perplexed.
Nighttime Intrusion and Assault
Li Yuan, 56, lives in Group Two, Donghu Village, Sandougou Town, Guazhou County. On November 27, he and his wife Tian Yufeng and their second son Li Kaichao attended a wedding banquet in Sandougou Town where they met an old friend, Yuan Fengjun. That evening, the three members of the Li family were invited to Yuan's house as guests, only to suffer an unexpected calamity.
On December 1, Li Yuan recounted the ordeal at the Yumen Hospital to reporters. At around 8 p.m. on November 27, while the Li and Yuan families were chatting, they suddenly heard the sound of car brakes and loud voices outside the yard. Yuan Fengjun and others went out to check and saw more than a dozen young men holding chopping axes, kitchen knives, steel bars, wooden sticks, shovels, and bricks storming into the courtyard with great ferocity.
"Who are you? What's the matter?" Yuan Fengjun questioned.
"Beat Yuan's family to death!" With a shout from a tall man, this group started attacking indiscriminately, smashing anything in sight, and cries of pain quickly filled the air.
"I rushed forward to block them. Seeing that they wouldn't listen, I told my son to call the police. Unexpectedly, one of the men rushed toward me and struck me on the head with an axe, causing me to pass out immediately. When I woke up, I found my face covered in blood. I could hear my wife and a female relative of Yuan's family begging for mercy inside the house. Struggling to reach the door, I saw my son lying unconscious on the ground with my wife protecting him. At that moment, five or six people inside the house hit me with bricks. When I regained consciousness again, I was already in the hospital. Fortunately, I managed to shield myself with my left arm; otherwise, that axe might have killed me," Li Yuan recalled, still trembling with fear.
Li Kaichao told reporters that the group consisted of about 15 people, led by a tall man and a man in a police uniform who shouted, "The police station is my home, and the chief said to beat them to death."
Li Kaichao said that when his father asked him to call the police, he was knocked unconscious. He hid in the house to make the call, but the group broke through the windows and doors and knocked him out with bricks. On December 1, during an interview at the Sandougou Town Police Station, it was learned that the man in the police uniform was a fake officer. The officers stated that the matter was under investigation and declined to disclose further details.
Eight Injured, Four Hospitalized
On the afternoon of December 1, when reporters visited Group Four, Sandougou Village, Sandougou Town, located over 160 kilometers from Jiuquan City, Yuan Fengjun's home was empty. The yard was littered with broken glass and shattered window frames, and there were several dried bloodstains on the ground outside. Through the windows, reporters saw that the interior of the house was in disarray, with pots, bowls, chopsticks, benches, and tables all broken and scattered across the room.
According to reports, apart from Yuan Fengjun and his wife and two sons, there were also three members of the Li family and Yuan Hongwei's sister-in-law (15 years old) present in the house at the time of the incident. All eight people inside were injured, suffering from head wounds and bruised bodies. Yuan Fengjun himself was a third-level physically disabled person. After the incident, the injured were taken to the Sandougou Town Health Center for examination and treatment. The next day, Mr. and Mrs. Li Yuan were transferred to the Yumen Hospital due to severe injuries, and Yuan Fengjun and his wife stayed in the health center for two days before being transferred to the Yumen Military Reclamation Hospital. Currently, Yuan Fengjun and his wife have been discharged.
At the Yumen Hospital, reporters saw Li Yuan lying in bed with a yellowish complexion and his head wrapped in bandages. His wife Tian Yufeng had a pale face with swollen eyes, and their second son Li Kaichao had multiple bruises on his head. The hospital's diagnosis was that Li Yuan suffered a head injury, and Tian Yufeng had multiple soft tissue injuries.
"These people were incredibly reckless. Even when I and a teenage girl knelt down and begged for mercy, they didn't stop," Tian Yufeng cried uncontrollably while recounting the scene.
Police Classify as "Public Order Case"
During the interviews, one of the victims, Yuan Hongwei, repeatedly changed his location despite multiple phone calls with reporters, preventing them from meeting his parents. Reporters eventually met Yuan Hongwei in several places, where he claimed unfamiliarity with the attackers but knew that some of them were Henan natives doing business in Sandougou Town. He refused to elaborate on the cause of the incident and its specific circumstances.
It was learned that among the attackers were locals from Guazhou County and outsiders, including individual entrepreneurs and unemployed individuals. According to the victims, after the incident, they repeatedly visited the police station demanding strict punishment for the attackers. However, for unknown reasons, the police only summoned some of the attackers and did not take any compulsory measures against them.
On the afternoon of December 7, after coordination by the Jiuquan Municipal Public Security Bureau, reporters learned from the Guazhou County Public Security Bureau that after the incident, the police summoned some of the attackers. Following an investigation, it was preliminarily determined that the event did not constitute a criminal case but rather a public order case, so no compulsory measures were taken against the attackers. Currently, two attackers remain at large, and the public security authorities are conducting further investigations.
After inquiring about the relevant situation from the Guazhou County Public Security Bureau, the head of the Political Department of the Jiuquan Municipal Public Security Bureau informed reporters that Yuan Hongwei, one of the victims, was also the trigger for the incident. On November 25, Yuan Hongwei went to a vegetable and aquatic products store in Sandougou Town to buy fish on credit but was refused. His arrogant remarks angered the shop owner, leading to this incident. According to the head of the Political Work Office of the Guazhou County Public Security Bureau, Yuan Hongwei had previous conflicts with some of the attackers.
By Dong Kaiwei, reporter for the Lanzhou Morning Post