HARBIN, May 2 -- Police shot dead a man at a railway station in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province Saturday, saying he was assaulting police and posing obvious threat to public security, authorities said.

The middle-aged man, whose identity was yet to be confirmed, forcibly prevented passengers from going through the security inspection gate at Qing'an Railway Station in Suihua City at around 12 p.m., a spokesman with Harbin railway police authority told Xinhua.

When a policeman on patrol tried to stop him, the man picked up a child and threw him at the police. In the chaos, he also tried to grab the policeman's gun and club.

The spokesman said police opened fire to keep the passengers safe, and dialed the first-aid hotline after shooting.

The suspect died and no passenger was injured in the incident, he said.

Police are still investigating the case.