Police in central China shot and killed a man who is believed to have murdered five people on Thursday.

Liu Fangjun, 38, is thought to have stabbed his wife, his parents-in-law, a doctor and his ambulance driver son to death in a village of Taojiang county, Hunan Province, said an officer with the provincial public security bureau.

Liu Fangjun had suspected his wife Liu Fenghua of having affairs with other men, said his neighbor Liu Aixun.

"The tragedy occurred at about 9 p.m. when I heard a woman scream in Fangjun's house," said Liu Aixun. He said he found Liu Fangjun standing in the guest room, with a bloodied knife in his hand.

Villagers found the bodies of Liu's wife and parents-in-law Liu Dihe and Wang Shulan on the second floor of the house, and called for an ambulance at the county clinic.

The 52-year-old doctor Cao Fangming saw Liu Fangjun, and shouted: "The murderer is still here. Tie him up." Liu is then believed to have killed the doctor and his son, ambulance driver Cao Lin.

Police arrived and fired warning shots, telling Liu Fangjun to lay down his knife. When he refused police shot and killed him.

Liu's six-year-old son survived the incident unharmed. Nurses of the Taojiang county clinic took care of him.

Police are continuing to investigate the deaths, and are expected to provide more details later Saturday.

(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2009)