China's Public Security Ministry announced Tuesday that they are investigating an incident of a police officer shooting at a train station on May 2, which killed an unarmed man. The officer shot the man in front of his elderly mother and his three young children.

The police shooting happened as Xu Chunhe, 45, allegedly attacked policeman Li Lebin and tried to seize his gun. Li pulled the trigger after Xu's attack, according to the local railway police.

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However, a private video clip currently circulating online shows that Li beat Xu with a long stick. Xu, in turn, tried to dodge the blows and pull the stick away from Officer Li. Release of the full surveillance footage of the shooting has been refused by local authorities, as reported by the Associated Press.

According to a police statement, Li interfered after Xu barred other travelers on the platform from checking into the station, adding that Xu was rude to the police officer.

"He boxed at the police officer, knocking off his cap," said police supervisor Zhao Dongbin. "He said he would try to grab the gun [...] and it would have been unimaginable if he had seized the gun."

Xu's cousin, Xu Chunli, however, has told local media that Officer Li hit Xu so hard with a baton that there was blood on Xu's head and face. After Xu grabbed the baton, Li pulled the gun. The cousin added that Xu grew upset after he and his family were not allowed to get on the train.

Xu was impoverished and ill. He was reportedly trying to travel to Beijing to seek government assistance for his elderly mother and three children.

Xu's death has roused public scrutiny. The Chinese are now demanding justifications for Li shooting Xu in the heart, reported Yahoo News.

The lawyer to Xu's family, Xie Yanyi, said that he believes there was no need for the policeman to restrain Xu. He added that the officer should be investigated on murder charges.

For the first time last year, China reportedly started allowing normal patrol officers to carry firearms after social tensions arose and increase in violent crimes began, especially with what authorities saw as terrorist threats from members of the ethnic minority Uighurs. However, the move raised concerns over whether the newly trained patrol officers are responsible enough to be using deadly weapons.

Following the shooting at the train station, calls for a full independent investigation arose as the public became uneasy about the newly granted power of ordinary officers carrying guns.

Several shootings have reportedly occurred where police officers were questioned but never fully accounted for.

"When authorities fail to provide rational explanations for pulling the trigger and to handle such cases in a fair and just way, police officers will continue to use their guns blindly, raising the risks that social tensions would only one day erupt uncontrollably," according to Zhao Chu, a Shanghai-based independent commentator. He said police violence can become habitual if inadequately monitored by the law.

Just months after the new decree, at least four people have already been fatally shot by police, according to the Boston Globe.

The ministry said that it had begun dispatching a work team to the northeastern town of Qing'an for the gathering of evidence and witness accounts. They added that they would be releasing the results later on.

TagsChina's Public Security Ministry, china investigates police shooting, china police shooting, police shooting, chinese officer shoots man