天津发生人质劫持案 3岁女童获救

A video released by the Committee of Political Science and Law of north China's Tianjin Municipality shows the drama surrounding the hostage taking of a 3 year old girl at a supermarket in Tianjin.

The incident happened at around 7pm on November 14. A man entered the supermarket, pretending to buy cigarettes. However, he suddenly took out a knife and grabbed a young girl nearby, holding her hostage. The man then demanded 20,000 yuan (around 2,900 US dollars) in cash, reports thepaper.cn

A policeman, pretending to be the girl's uncle, sit at the entrance to the supermarket and tried to get the hostage-taker to release the girl, but the man became upset. The policeman offered him the money he wanted but he turned it down, telling the policeman to leave and close the door.

A policewoman, saying that she was the girl's aunt, came to help the policeman.

During the negotiations, the policeman offered to exchange himself for the little girl, but the suggestion was ignored.

Meanwhile, snipers were deployed outside the supermarket to ensure the safety of the 3 year old.

While a policeman was trying to distract the hostage-taker by engaging him in conversation, another officer approached him offering water. As the man stretched out his hand to take it, the policeman pinned the hostage-taker down, until reinforcements came.

After a six hour ordeal, the girl was rescued. No one was injured in the hostage-taking.

At the initial court hearing, the suspect was identified as a 27-year-old man, surnamed Lu, from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. He had reportedly fled to Tianjin escaping a gambling debt in his hometown and was looking for opportunities to commit a crime.

Court proceedings are continuing.