The murder of the father of a former Olympian at a Beijing landmark cast a sad shadow over the first full day of Olympic competition today, just hours after China’s jubilant opening of the Summer Games.
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 (pictured).
The U.S. Olympic Committee confirmed Bachman died from knife wounds and that 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.
Todd Bachman was chief executive officer for Bachman’s, Inc., a home-and-garden center based in Minneapolis.
The assailant, Tang Yongming, 47, leapt to his death from a 130-foot (40-meter) -high balcony on the Drum Tower, just five miles (eight kilometers) from the main Olympics site, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
A picture of my cave
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