Man detained for shooting at noisy dancing grannies

A Chinese man was detained for shooting and injuring a woman in an angry protest against loud public "square dance" music.

Group dancing in public spaces is popular among middle-aged and elderly Chinese women. However, the dancing and accompanying music often trigger complaints, and sometimes even violent reactions, from nearby residents.

The man from Yangshuo County, in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said he was upset by the noisy group of women dancing near his house, who mocked him when they turned down his request to quiet down.

Outraged, the man fired three shots with an air rifle on the evening of March 3. He told police he was aiming at the stereo speaker but accidentally shot a woman who was operating the machine in the leg.

He was detained for endangering public safety, according to the public security bureau of Yangshuo. He may also face charges for owning firearms, which are strictly banned in China.

Reports of violent confrontations between public dancers and residents have been on the rise in China in recent years. In 2014, a man in Beijing was so annoyed by a group of dancing women that he fired a shotgun in the air and unleashed three Tibetan mastiffs to scare them away. Endit