Relative of US Olympic coach killed in Beijing

BEIJING - A knife-wielding Chinese man attacked two relatives of a coach for the U.S. Olympic men's volleyball team at a tourist site in Beijing, killing one and injuring the other on the first day of the Olympics on Saturday, team officials and state media said.

The man then committed suicide by throwing himself from the second story of the site, the 13th century Drum Tower just five miles from the main Olympics site.

The brutal attack shortly after midday was all the more shocking because of the rarity of violent crime against foreigners in tightly controlled China, which has ramped up security measures even more for the Olympics.

The stabbing came only hours after what by many accounts was the most spectacular opening ceremony in Olympic history and it has already dampened some of the enthusiasm.

"They are deeply saddened and shocked," Darryl Seibel, a spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said of the volleyball team.

The U.S. Olympic Committee said in a statement that two family members of a coach for the men's indoor volleyball team were stabbed at the Drum Tower "during an attack by what local law enforcement authorities have indicated was a lone assailant."

One of the family members was killed and the other was seriously injured, it said, without giving details.

The official Xinhua News Agency identified the attacker as Tang Yongming, 47, from the eastern city of Hangzhou. It said Tang attacked the two Americans and their Chinese tour guide, who was also injured, at 12:20 p.m. on the second level of the ancient tower, then leapt to his death immediately afterward. The second level of the tower is about 130 feet high.

Seibel said the two Americans who were attacked were not wearing anything that would have identified them as Americans or part of the U.S. team. He could not name the coach.

"They were not wearing apparel or anything that would have specifically identified them as being members of our delegation" or as Americans, he told The Associated Press.

He said it is "too early to say" whether the U.S. delegation or athletes will require additional security.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Buangan said it was aware of an incident involving two Americans and was working with Chinese authorities to find out more. He said U.S. officials were in contact with relatives of the two Americans who are in Beijing.

"Out of respect for the families involved, we can't say more than that," Don Q. Washington, another embassy spokesman, told reporters.

Police blocked off streets leading to the Drum Tower immediately after the attack and cordoned off the area with yellow police tape. Security officers were examining the scene on the tower and below.

Attacks on foreigners in China are extremely rare. A Canadian model was murdered last month in Shanghai, but police said that was because she stumbled onto a burglary.

In March, a screaming, bomb-strapped hostage-taker who commandeered a bus with 10 Australians aboard in the popular tourist city of Xi'an was shot to death by a police sniper.

Shanghai and Beijing are still safer than most foreign cities of their size. Punishments for crimes against foreigners are heavier than for crimes against Chinese, and police-linked neighborhood watch groups are highly vigilant. Chinese are not allowed to own guns.

Even so, the U.S. government now warns Americans against muggings, beatings and even carjackings, especially in the nightlife and shopping districts of large cities.

Built in the 13th century, the Drum Tower is one of the few ancient structures still in Beijing, and was used to tell time in imperial China for the city, using drummers who pounded their instruments to mark the hours. It is located on an important central axis of the city, to the north of the Forbidden City, the former home of the emperor.

The White House saidPresident Bush, who is in Beijing for the opening days of the games, was informed of the incident, and his heart goes out to the families of the victims. It said the administration and the Beijing U.S. embassy have offered those families any assistance they need. Also, U.S. officials have been speaking to Chinese authorities about the incident.

International Olympic Committee spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said in a statement that the committee had received reports of the attack and was in contact with Beijing Games organizers "to find out full details, and are ready to provide whatever assistance we can."

something tells me that this won't be the last report about something happening at the Olympics in Beijing

banks said:

You read my mind. I had a chance to go to the Olympics and was like, "Nah, thanks."

I guess the russians and the georgians know they are at war by now.

There are some crazy ass muthafuckas out there.

This is why I hate people

banks said:

Mmmhmmm....
I;m just waiting for the government to fuck up big time somehow, during the olympics.

They just reported the following:


Elisabeth used to play for the women's volleyball team which is playing right now. Her mother is in critical condition.
[Edited 8/9/08 8:49am]

BEIJING -- Police investigating the stabbing death of the father of a former U.S. Olympian said Sunday the suspect was distraught over family problems. Chinese authorities unsettled by the attack during the Beijing Olympics tightened security at tourist spots around the city.

Wang Wei, vice president of the Beijing Olympic organizing committee, said Sunday that security in and around Olympic venues was already sufficient but would be increased at scenic spots around the city.

He said Chinese investigators and U.S. Embassy officials believe Saturday's attack was "an isolated incident" and suggested such random acts are difficult to prevent. There was no indication the assailant knew his victims had any connection to the games, according to Olympic and Chinese authorities.

"Beijing is a safe city, but unfortunately we are not immune to violent acts," Wang told reporters.

Todd and Barbara Bachman of Lakeville, Minn. -- parents of 2004 volleyball Olympian Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman and in-laws of U.S. men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon -- were attacked by a Chinese man while visiting the 13th-century Drum Tower on Saturday. The assault came hours after the games' spectacular opening ceremony.

The U.S. Olympic Committee confirmed Bachman died from knife wounds and Barbara Bachman suffered life-threatening injuries. She and their Chinese tour guide, who was also injured in the attack, were being treated in a Beijing hospital.

The committee said Sunday that Mrs. Bachman suffered multiple lacerations and stab wounds. She underwent eight hours of surgery and was in critical but stable condition.

Rob Browning, leader of the men's volleyball team, said the team was united in supporting the Bachmans. The U.S. men's volleyball team persevered to win its opener, but players realize it will be a difficult task to medal without coach Hugh McCutcheon around. Jim Caple

After displaying such a triumphant opening to these Olympics, the Chinese now know that even the most prodigious planning cannot prevent every bad occurrence. Pat Forde
"We are absolutely devastated by what has occurred, for their loss and for everything they are going through," Browning said. "We are a family, and we'll get through this together as a family."

President Bush, in the Chinese capital to attend some Olympic events and meet with Chinese leaders, thanked President Hu Jintao on Sunday for his government's handling of the attack.

"Your government has been very attentive, very sympathetic, and I appreciate that a lot," Bush said.

Hu said his government took the incident "very seriously" and pledged to keep Washington apprised of the investigation.

Elisabeth Bachman was with her parents at the time of the attack, but was uninjured. Her father was chief executive officer for Bachman's, Inc., a home-and-garden center based in Minneapolis.

Shortly after the attack, the assailant, Tang Yongming, 47, leapt to his death from a balcony on the Drum Tower, five miles from the main Olympics site, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Violent crime against foreigners is rare in tightly controlled China, and the assault occurred despite major security measures that have blanketed the capital city during the Olympics. A 100,000-strong security force plus countless volunteers have been deployed to protect against any trouble.

Police said Tang went through his second divorce in 2006 and grew increasingly despondent when his 21-year-old son started getting into trouble, Xinhua reported. The son was detained in May 2007 on suspicion of fraud, then received a suspended prison sentence in March this year for theft.

MuthaFunka said:

for real.

Why am I over here crying after reading this? Just senseless. . .

In Beijing, a family torn asunder





BEIJING – A knife-wielding man. An unprovoked attack. A husband dead and his wife in critical condition. Their daughter, a former U.S. Olympian, at the scene of the crime where the assailant jumps 130 feet to his death and everyone is left to wonder.

Why?

The question remains unanswered in part because details of the attack remain scarce. But a portrait of the victims that has emerged after a series of interviews helps explain why a deep, personal grief has swept across pockets of the United States and rocked the tight-knit world of volleyball.

“It’s like losing part of your family,” said Nancy Metcalf, a member of the 2004 U.S. women’s volleyball team.

Their names are Todd and Barbara Bachman. Their daughter Elisabeth played for the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, and their son-in-law, Hugh McCutcheon, is the head coach of the U.S. men’s volleyball team. Their story begins when UCLA’s volleyball coaches arrived in 1995 at the Bachman home in suburban Minneapolis hoping to sign Elisabeth, then one the nation’s most coveted recruits.

The front door swung open, and so did the Bachmans’ arms. They greeted UCLA’s coaches with an embrace and took them on a tour of a home lined with family photos.

“They immediately made you feel so at ease, as it if was your home too,” said Andy Banachowski, UCLA’s head coach.

Recalled UCLA assistant coach Kim Jagd, “We were selling the Bachmans on UCLA, but they truly wanted to get to know us.”

The Bruins landed their prized recruit, and the folks in Minnesota could have told the coaches what they were getting. Elisabeth started playing volleyball as a seventh-grader and her parents turned the house into a gathering spot for the teams and chaperoned them on trips.

The Bruins weren’t getting just a star player; they were getting an entire family.

Todd and Barbara Bachman showed up to UCLA’s games – virtually every one, home and away – and entrusted their large-scale Minneapolis-based floral business to other family members. At the volleyball team’s potluck dinners, they brought a special homemade confection.

“Bachman bars,” the Bruins called them, and they became as much a fixture of the program as the couple from Minneapolis.

“You knew 30, 40 minutes before the game they would be there, smiling and cheering,” said Michelle Quon, one of Elisabeth’s former teammates at UCLA.

Their disposition manifested itself when their daughter, who goes by the nickname “Wiz,” took the court.

UCLA’s coaches watched with amusement as Elisabeth soared above the net time and again, driving spikes at her opponents.

“The first thing she would do is apologize to the player for hitting somebody,” Banachowski said. “And it wasn’t sarcastic. It was a genuine remark, a reflection of Wiz’s parents.”

During every visit to the campus, they greeted the coaches and players with hugs and a fresh batch of those homemade treats. When Elisabeth graduated from UCLA in 2000, the family handed out the recipe, and the Bachman bars spread.

Elisabeth made the U.S. national team. She was part of a squad that ascended to No. 1 in the world and arrived at the 2004 games expected to win the gold. Instead, they won only three of six matches. But even after defeats, there were two grinning fans waiting for them.

“Go get ‘em next time, girls,” the Bachmans would say.

Around the holidays, the family’s countless fans received Christmas cards bearing a picture of Todd and Barbara squeezed around their daughter during the Opening Ceremony, expectations and medals be damned.

“They had just as much fun watching Wiz play volleyball as Wiz had playing volleyball,” said Amy Hughes, who handled publicity for the UCLA teams on which Elisabeth starred.

Six years after Elisabeth graduated from UCLA, the Bruins arrived in Minneapolis for two games and Todd and Barb Bachman were in the crowd and cheering as if their daughter were still on the team. Her career ended when she retired shortly before marrying McCutcheon in 2007, and the Bachmans adopted his team as if were part of their family.

A week ago Elisabeth spoke to Metcalf, who has known the Bachmans since she first played with Elisabeth in 1999 on a U.S. national junior team. During the conversation, Elisabeth mentioned she was particularly excited about going to Beijing to watch her husband’s team compete because her parents would be joining her.

Their two other daughters live on either side of the Bachmans’ house, while volleyball has taken McCutcheon and Elisabeth to Southern California.

“She was so happy that her parents were going to be there and she was going to get to spend some time with them,” Metcalf said.

So on Friday they traveled together to the Drum Tower, a popular tourist attraction in Beijing. Then came the knife-wielding man, the unprovoked attack and as soon as officials announced that Todd Bachman, 62, was dead and his wife, Barbara, had undergone surgery and was in critical care, the frantic calls and questions began.

Of all people, why the Bachmans?

Hughes, who grew close to the family at UCLA, wrestled with her emotions. Like others, she found herself thinking of the bitter tragedy and sweet memories.

“I want to stop everything right now and find the recipe for the Bachman bars,” she said.