A drug addict armed with a pistol held a woman hostage in Southwest China's Sichuan Province and opened fire on passersby, in a rare outburst of gun violence that shocked the nation.

Police shot the drug-crazed gunman dead on a highway in Guangyuan, northern Sichuan on Sunday after a 12-hour standoff, local police said. 

One of the passersby was slightly wounded in the abdomen. The hostage was frightened but suffered no injuries, Luo Hong, a publicity official with the Guangyuan public security bureau, told the Global Times.

Two guns, six cartridges and eight empty shells were found on the gunman's body.

The incident started Saturday night when three people were driving in Cangxi county along the Guangyuan-Nanchong Highway. They heard a woman crying for help in an unlicensed car. The gunman suddenly opened fire on them when they stopped their car and tried to figure out what was happening, said Luo.

According to the police, the gunman was Zhang Fuming, 47, from Shapingba district in Chongqing. He has been addicted to drugs for years and was high during the incident.

Police arrived at the scene at about 9:30 pm after receiving a call.

"He pointed his gun at the hostage's head and demanded drugs and a spare car," Luo said. "He was planning to escape but later changed his mind and refused to step out of his car. He was in some kind of madness and delusion."

The hostage, surnamed Yang, was a woman in her 20s from Chongqing. She was traveling as Zhang's companion. Luo said Yang is currently in hospital.

The police closed the highway on Saturday night and tried to persuade Zhang to release the hostage, but the efforts were in vain. Zhang instead fired two shots at the police during the negotiations, causing no injuries.

Police then shot two canisters of tear gas into the car to drive the gunman out of his car. He was shot dead by a sniper while dragging the hostage to find a place to hide, Luo said.

The hostage Yang could not be reached for comment.

The incident has drawn nationwide attention on the Internet, with an overwhelming majority of Web users questioning how such deadly weapons were circulated among individuals.

"We are investigating the incident and there is not much to say right now as to how the man got hold of a gun," Han Tao, the publicity director of Guangyuan police, told the Global Times.

China has strict regulations prohibiting the circulation of firearms. Illegally possessing a gun could lead to seven years in prison, Liu Tao, a criminal law professor at Chinese People's Public Security University, told the Global Times.

However, such cases keep occurring. On September 23, a man in Dongguan, Guangdong Province was shot dead during a dispute in a restaurant, reported the New Express newspaper.

Liu said guns illegally circulated in the country were smuggled across the border or produced by underground workshops, noting that police authorities should strengthen the crackdown on firearm trafficking and production.