An armed robber committed suicide after being held up by police inside a shop in Dandong, a city of Liaoning province, after a botched stick up.

Zhang, the robber, used a pistol to hold up the shop owner on the morning of Sept 22 just as he was opening for business.

The owner fought back, escaped the robber's clutches and called police after locking his assailant inside the shop.

Seeing police break into seize him, the robber quickly despaired and shot himself dead.

"We tried to let him lay down arms but failed," police said. "Before we could get hold of him, he shot himself dead with a homemade pistol."

(China Daily/Harbin Daily)