A workplace grievance over a timesheet error escalated into a mass shooting that left at least six people dead across Chongqing in under an hour.
Key Facts
- Date
- 5 April 1993
- Perpetrator
- Chen Xuerong, factory worker
- Weapon used
- Hunting rifle
- People killed
- At least 6 (including perpetrator)
- Duration of incident
- Approximately 40 minutes
- Incident trigger
- Dispute over a timesheet error
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Chen Xuerong, a worker at the Chongqing machine factory, became enraged over what he believed was a mistake on his timesheet. Unable to find his supervisor to confront him, Chen armed himself with a hunting rifle and resolved to kill his boss, setting off a violent chain of events on 5 April 1993.
Chen opened fire inside the factory, killing three co-workers, then fled over a wall onto the street. He shot at a passing family on a motorcycle, killing three and wounding one, wounded a soldier in a van, killed another man to steal his bicycle, and finally hijacked a taxi after killing its driver and injuring the passenger.
Chen's rampage ended when he drove a hijacked taxi into a 30-meter deep ravine, killing himself roughly 40 minutes after firing his first shots. The incident left at least six civilians dead and several others wounded, drawing attention to workplace grievance violence in China.