SHANGHAI — A 29-year-old inveterate gambler has been identified as the lead suspect behind a small ********* at Shanghai’s main international airport that ******* four people, city ****** said Monday.

A statement on the ****** force’s microblog said Zhou Xingbai had travelled to Shanghai from the neighbouring province of Jiangsu to commit the ***** and had previously posted on the internet that he was deep in debt and intended to “do something really crazy.”

It said Sunday’s ********* was carried out using fireworks stuffed inside empty beer bottles.

The ***** at a check-in area at Pudong International Airport, China’s second-busiest, occurred at around 2:20 p.m., but caused no disruptions to flights. Zhou was believed to have been among those taken to the hospital, possibly with a self-inflicted ****** to the neck.

The ****** statement said Zhou was originally from the poor southern province of Guizhou but moved to the industrial east after graduating from high school in 2006 and worked at a series of factory jobs. It said he lost all his money ******** online and was forced to borrow from friends to survive.

In his online note, Zhou had said he was certain he would be ****** while carrying out the ******.