CNN —A man who killed 35 people by plowing his car into a crowd at a sports center in southern China has been sentenced to death, state media reported on Friday. Fan was sentenced at the Zhuhai Intermediate People’s Court on Friday after pleading guilty earlier in the day, state broadcaster CCTV reported. After the attack, officers found Fan in the car trying to injure himself with a knife and took him to hospital, police said in their previous statement. The attack had the highest such death toll has seen since 2014, when a string of attacks rocked the far western region of Xinjiang. The hit-and-run prompted Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who described the attack as “extremely vicious,” to call for severe punishment, CCTV previously reported.

---

Persons: Fan Weiqiu, –, Fan, “, Xi Jinping Organizations: CNN, CCTV, Zhuhai Sports Center Locations: China, Zhuhai, unnerving, Xinjiang, Hunan