A man in northern China who went inside a college in northern China was beaten by a huge crowd of college students simply because he was mistaken for a ‘burglar,’ news reports say.

A few hundred students from Xian Physical Education University in Xi’an city, Shaanxi province all gathered up to capture the man who was mistakenly identified as a robber, reports the Huashang Daily. Police who arrived on the scene said they were surprised to see a large number of students ganging up on the man.

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Police were reportedly responding to a burglary report late in Wednesday when the incident happened. One of the police reportedly shot his firearm into the air as a warning shot, hoping to control the situation.

The mob reportedly started forming after a staff from the school spotted the man in the school building at about 11 p.m. and called the students to help him apprehend the ‘burglar.’ Thankfully, the students were up on that night waiting for a European Champions League soccer game and were available to help, school authorities said.

All of the students were angered upon hearing the news about a ‘burglar’ on-campus and quickly rushed to help the school staff. However, the school staff made a mistake – the man wasn’t a thief as he thought.

Police discovered that the man only visited the college that night as his child wanted to apply to be able to study there. However, he was drunk at that time and after arriving inside the college, he used a pair of socks to wipe his face clean after throwing up.

While the students’ intentions on catching a burglar might be correct, they were still wrong to attack the suspect, the news report said. Maybe because of what happened, the man will now think twice about going to a college while drunk.

TagsXian Physical Education University, Shaanxi, European Champions League soccer