Police in central China's Hunan province have arrested a man suspected of murdering 12 family members in a remote village, state media reported on Monday, dpa reported.
Liu Aibing, 34, was captured after some 1,000 police officers combed the area near the village in Hunan's Anhua county following the killings on Saturday, the China Daily newspaper said.
The police were responding to a report from villagers that Liu had set fire to several homes in Yinshanpai village and opened fire with two shotguns.
Liu's father, uncle and several cousins were among 12 relatives, aged six to 86, who were reported dead, the newspaper said.
Two more of Liu's relatives were in critical condition in hospital with unspecified injuries, while at least six homes were destroyed by fire, it said.
Some state media reports said Liu had a history of mental illness, though one villager told the official Xinhua news agency that he had shown no signs of abnormal behaviour before Saturday.
Witnesses said Liu had spent Friday night at the home of his uncle, with whom he had an argument over his father's timber business last month.
Man arrested for murder of 12 family members in China
