Seventeen civilians, including an Iranian diplomat and his son, along with up to 11 soldiers and policemen were killed before Tian was finally shot dead by a police or military sniper.

Tian Mingjian (Chinese: 田明建), born 20 September 1964,[1][a] was a first lieutenant stationed at an army base in Tongxian County, a suburb of Beijing.

[2] It was reported that Tian had a quarrel with his superiors because they had forced his wife to have an abortion when she was pregnant with their second child, in accordance with China's one-child policy.

[5] In an article published in Xiangchao(《湘潮》),a magazine sponsored by the Party History Research Office of Hunan Province, it was stated that Tian Mingjian usually pursued fame and profit, arbitrarily beat and scolded subordinates, and even gave gifts to the leaders of the regiment in order to be promoted.

[6] According the article, Tian Mingjian was once exposed for accepting bribes and subsequently demoted to the position of deputy platoon leader in the regiment.

[7] On 20 September, Tian armed himself with a Type 81 assault rifle and killed the regimental political commissar on the drill ground.

[10] The exact number of casualties remains unknown, though in the immediate aftermath 14 people were reported dead, and 72 others wounded, many of them so severely that doctors expected the death toll to rise to 40 or 50.

[13] Shortly after the shooting, the Beijing Garrison Command (BGC) was ordered by the Central Military Commission to conduct a thorough review of the incident.