Hero Shan is shown in the middle, and the attacker depicted at left. The armed officials have not shown up yet.

When calamity and chaos strike, it is the heroes that step forward and distinguish themselves by their actions. It is in the nature of a hero to act because the one defining characteristic they all share is that a hero serves.

On the morning of May 6, a man began to indiscriminately attack passengers leaving the Guangzhou Railway Station with a long bladed knife, causing non life-threatening injuries to six people before being shot and detained by police. And it’s because of heroes like Shan that the situation didn’t get any worse.

READ: Suspect Acted Alone in Knife Attack at Guangzhou Railway Station

Mr Shan is a 42 year-old migrant all the way from Heilongjiang Province. After arriving in Guangzhou at 11am, he unexpectedly became caught up in the knifing incident as he was leaving the plaza.

Shan was very fortunate when the backpack he was wearing helped deflect some of the slashes made at him by the knife-wielding attacker, and as a result only suffered minor injuries.

Shan told his story to the Southern Metropolis Daily. ”I picked up a wooden rod that had been left on the ground by other passengers to confront the attacker,” he said. “More people would have been stabbed if I hadn’t done that, because the attacker stabbed everyone he met like crazy.”

Shan also added, “When the attacker moved, I also moved to block him so that he couldn’t hurt others.”

READ: Eyewitness Accounts Depict Horrors of
Guangzhou Railway Station Attack

As reported by China Daily, Shan said he used the rod to knock away the suspect’s knife before police officers rushed in. This statement contradicts earlier published reports, and if true, signifies that the police had shot an unarmed man.

But that is but one half of the heroic coin that pays for the safety of our society. We also owe a debt of gratitude to the officials that we see in photographs getting the job done.

In the wake of the Guangzhou Railway Station knife attack, Chinese officials got personally involved with the beefing of security at train stations across the country. Reported as having made personal tours of inspection are Fu Zhenghua, vice-minister of the Ministry of Public Security, who visited Beijing Railway Station; vice-minister Liu Yanping, who visited several railway stations in Shanghai; and Huang Baowei, head of the Zhengzhou public security bureau, who made an inspection of rural areas of the city.

RELATED: Knife Attack at Shenzhen North Station Watched by
Crowd of Bystanders

It’s always great to have officials making sure that security is tight, but those wanting an extra layer of security may sleep better knowing that these officials are described as making these inspections while “armed“. You know that these guys have all got your back when they’re packing heat.

Meanwhile, the the identity of the sole suspect in this attack has still not yet been revealed to the public. As well, the SCMP confirms an early report that said the suspect loitered at the Guangzhou Railway Station for hours before making the attack as citing a security video that features the suspect in it.

UPDATE May 9, 2014: Our hero gets the recognition he deserves.

Yesterday, Shan Lianbo and Wang Fengwu were both recognized by the city for their heroic deeds in helping police confront the attacker that put six people in hospital. Both men were awarded a “Guangzhou Samaritan Certificate” as well as a RMB 5,000 cash reward.

Photo: Weibo (1)