August 12, 2008	Tuesday	Sha'aban 9, 1429

BEIJING: The fatal stabbing of an American on the first full day of the Beijing Olympic Games was “a random act of violence”, the son-in-law of the victim said on Monday, endorsing the view of Chinese police and US officials.

US volleyball team coach Hugh McCutcheon told reporters he felt pain “but certainly not anger” over the death of his father-in-law at the hands of a Chinese man who killed himself by jumping from a tower immediately after the attack.

“I believe that random acts of violence are random acts of violence ... this was a case of the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.

Todd Bachman, 62, whose daughter is a former Olympian, died after the attack at noon on Saturday at the Drum Tower, a tourist spot 8km from the Olympic site.

His wife Barbara suffered multiple lacerations in the attack by Tang Yongming, 47, described by Chinese officials as a homeless, jobless man, who then threw himself off the tower.

McCutcheon’s wife Elisabeth, 29, who competed for the US volleyball team at the 2004 Athens Games, was with them at the time along with a female guide who had minor injuries.

“It is the view of local law enforcement and US authorities that this was not premeditated, not targeted, not specific,” US Olympic team spokesman Darryl Seibel said.

McCutcheon, a 38-year-old native of New Zealand, gave few details of the attack, which is still under investigation.

“It was not a drawn-out event. I think it happened quite quickly and I don’t think there was anything said.”

It was “tragic and senseless”, he added. “Anger is not an emotion I’m allowing myself to indulge in.”McCutcheon said the family expressed thanks for all the support and sympathy it had received, including help from the US Olympic Committee, the US embassy, the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the White House. He was putting his family first before deciding whether to return to his coaching post.—Reuters