[Archive 2008-08-09] American tourist killed in Beijing

Historical archive — originally published 2008-08-09. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

Two relatives of a coach for the American Volleyball team, and their tour-guide, were attacked by a knife-wielding Chinese man Saturday.

Todd and Barbara Bachman of Farmington, Minnesota USA, in-laws of Hugh McCutcheon- head U.S. indoor men’s volleyball coach, were touring the Drum Tower in central Beijing when the attack occurred. Mr. Bachman was killed, his wife and their tour-guide were injured and are undergoing treatment at Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon, wife of Hugh McCutcheon and a member of the 2004 United States women’s Olympics volleyball team, was also present for the attack on her parents, but was herself uninjured.

The attacker, identified by Chinese state sources as Tang Yongming, a 47 year old from Hangzhou, Zhejiang leapt to his death from the tower's second story in what was labeled a suicide.

A United States Olympic Committee spokesman stated that the victims weren't wearing anything that might have marked them as Americans or as associated with a US team. He further stated that it wasn't known whether the U.S. men's volleyball team would compete in a match scheduled for Sunday and that no extra security was planned for U.S. athletes.

Todd Bachman was the CEO of Bachman's, Inc; a regional chain of garden centers based in Minneapolis. He was sixty-two years old.

Source and licence

Text adapted from American tourist killed in Beijing by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.