Tibetan official shot dead in mountain ambush; police name suspected killer

A Tibetan official working for a “stability maintenance” office in the region was gunned down in an ambush, in what Sichuan police suspect was a revenge attack.

Zhang Wei, 36, was an official under the politics and law committee of Xinlong town in the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in western Sichuan, Xinhua reported.

One suspect in the attack was identified as Langzhu villager Xue Ga, who is still at large and may be armed, the authorities warned.

Zhang had taken a team to visit a remote mountain area where they were tasked to prevent a fight among local residents over the harvesting of a Chinese caterpillar fungus.

They spent 40 days in the area – which had no telecommunications access – starting in May, before returning from a farm on June 14.

On their way back, near the mountain, they were ambushed by gunmen. Zhang was shot dead.