Shanghai, May 25.
An armed would-be bag snatcher was killed by police bullets, and three innocent pedestrians and a sikh police constable were slightly wounded of 10 am. yesterday, in a running gun-battle which got under way when Scrat, A. W. Nicoll, who was riding, 4 poifce motorcycle in an easterly' direction along Nanking Road at the; time, saw how the criminal was attempting to relieve a Chinese woman of her bag as she was crossing from South to North immediately in front of Sincere's Department Store.
Applying his brakes, Sergt, Nicoll dashed towards the man who by then was already in possession of the bag. On seeing the police officer behind him, the criminal dropped the bag and drew an automatic pistol from his left sleeve.
It did not take Sergt. Nicoll long to draw his weapon and, together with, {raMe constables on duty at the Kin Wo Ka and Kwangse Road inter-rections, he gave chase, opening fre iter the criminal had' fired. several shots in. their direction.
Killed Instantly Presumably with the intention of hiding in the throng of shoppers whom he believed to be in the Sun Sun Department Store at that time of the day, the criminal ran into the store but he had hardly. proceeded more than ten yards when a final salvo from police guns caused him to collapse, death being Instantaneous. Meanwhile, Sikh pelisse constable 706, who also participated in the pursue noticed blood on his lett leg, and on closer inspection found that' he had been slightly Injured. When taken to the hospital, attendants there. found that no Jess than three shots had perforated the constable's tunic three places, without, however, injure ing him.
When the smoke had cleared som qrhat, three pedestrians were found te Suc re been: injured by bullets, all of which, as Was later ascertained, having been fired by the gunman Ambulances arrived on the scene within a few minutes and conveyed the injured tothe Paul, Hami, CE, while the body of the criminal on whom no papers of identification were found, was taken to the public mortuary on Kiaochow Road.
Within two "minutes after the ambulances had left. the scene, the heavy flow of traffic resumed its Exquiries made at the hospital last night revealed that none of the injured Persons was in a serious condition, Yesterday's affair is believed to be the first in the annals of the Shanghi Municipal Police in" which a ba snatcher carried '9 pistol,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.