Tibetan College Shooting

Tony Fields at NPR's "On the Media" just passed this on to me.


Two Tibetans Dead After College Shooting
Radio Free Asia
2006.10.03
KATHMANDU—Two senior Tibetan college officials have died following a shooting incident at a teacher training college in the Amdo region of China’s remote Gansu province.
Separate sources confirmed the deaths of two top school officials in the shooting incident, at the Hezuo Teacher Training College in Kanlho (in Chinese, Gannan) prefecture during the college’s 20th anniversary celebrations in late September, according to RFA’s Tibetan service.
Lobsang, principal of the Hezuo Teacher Training College, shot Yang Zhihong, head of the school’s Communist Party unit, killing him on the spot, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He then shot himself, and died later from gunshot wounds.
“It is true the incident took place. There were some disputes between these two local officers,” a resident of the Amdo region said.
We don’t know the reason for the shooting. There are no senior officials in the office right now due to a holiday—I am on duty answering calls.

Officer on duty at the Kanlho Public Security Bureau

Reasons for violence unclear
“Lobsang was the head of the Teacher Training College and Yang Zhihong was head of college’s Communist Party,” the source said, adding that Lobsang was a Tibetan from Cho-ne county and Yang Zhihong was also a Tibetan from Tewo county, both in Kanlho prefecture.
An officer on duty at the Kanlho Public Security Bureau, contacted by telephone, confirmed the incident but said the circumstances were unclear.
“We don’t know the reason for the shooting. There are no senior officials in the office right now due to a holiday—I am on duty answering calls,” the official said.
An official at the Hezuo Teacher Training College who also asked not to be named said, “I still don’t know the reasons for the shooting. Right now the college is closed for a holiday.”
It is true the incident took place. There were some disputes between these two local officers.

Resident
The reasons for the dispute were unclear, according to several sources.
One source in Amdo said Lobsang was due to be transferred elsewhere following his promotion to a provincial institution. Before his departure, he had to get a clearance certificate from the local Party secretary.
But Lobsang was unable to account for missing school funds of around 30,000 yuan, the source said.
When he asked Yang to show the funds as college expenses, Yang refused. The source said Lobsang owned several properties that would have cost more than what a college principal could afford, and Yang had already reported this to higher officials.
Original reporting by RFA’s Tibetan service. Director: Jigme Ngapo. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Luisetta Mudie and edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/social/2006/10/03/tibet_template/