Students at Baoding-based Hebei University have rallied online to demand severe punishment for the drunken driver who bragged he is the son of a police official after being accused of killing a girl and knocking down another in a hit-and-run on Saturday.
"Sue me if you can ... my father is Li Gang!" the driver reportedly said.
The 22-year-old driver's threats, directed at security guards and students who stopped him from fleeing the scene, have come under attack on the university's online forum.
Li Gang was later identified by China News Service as deputy director of the public security bureau of Beishi district of Baoding city in North China's Hebei province.
Li Qiming, the driver, has been arrested for traffic offense.
According to a statement that the Baoding public security bureau released on Monday night, the driver was drunk while driving the car.
The statement did not make it clear Li Qiming is the son of Li Gang, but said: "Everyone is equal before the law. No matter who the person is, the violator will receive punishments strictly according to law."
A black Volkswagen Magotan hit the girls on the Hebei University campus at about 9:40 pm on Saturday, according to the statement.
The two girls were roller-skating and witnesses said they were thrown high in the air by the collision and were hit again when they fell on the car's windshield and mirror.
The driver did not stop, but kept going and was intercepted by security guards and students near the school gate, according to the police statement.
Surrounded by about 50 people and asked to step out of the car, the driver said aloud to the crowd without a sense of sorrow that he is the son of Li Gang, local media quoted witnesses as saying.
Traffic police asserted he was drunken driving based on a blood sample.
One of the girls surnamed Chen, 20, from Shijiazhuang city of the province, died the day after the accident. Another girl suffered fractures in her left leg and remained hospitalized.
(中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑)
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Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.