The killer, a 28-year-old Beijing native surnamed Yang, confessed he had wanted revenge after police arrested him in October on suspicion of stealing bicycles.

He stabbed nine officers and a security guard at a police station in the north of the city, the Shanghai public security bureau said in a statement.

Yang was quickly overpowered and arrested, police said, but five police died in the attack.

"He was unhappy ... In order to take revenge, he decided to commit criminal actions," the statement said. Press reports said he was unemployed.

The killings occurred as China was gearing up for next month's 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, an event that has resulted in stepped up police security throughout the nation.

According to the statement, Yang set a fire outside the police station's front gate at around 9:40 am local time, attracting a security guard's attention. He stabbed the guard and then charged into the station.

"He broke into the building, attacking policemen who were at work," the statement said.

Xinhua news agency identified two of the dead officers as Fang Fuxin, 47 and Zhang Jianping, 48. Both died of traumatic hemorrhagic shock in the lower right lung, the report said, citing doctors.

Police in blood-soaked clothes were seen being carried out, the state-run Eastday.com news website reported, citing witnesses.

Some of the officers had chest injuries while others' faces were bloody, Xinhua said citing a witnesses.

"When the four (policemen) were carried into the emergency room, their bodies were soaked with blood and their faces were pale," Xinhua quoted a witnessed surnamed Jia at the Changzheng hospital as saying.

"The scene was too horrible to watch."

At least one officer was declared dead upon arrival at hospital within half an hour of the attack and another died shortly afterwards, a Changzheng Hospital spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity.

Two other officers were in intensive care, but their conditions were stable, she added.

Officials refused to comment at Beizhan hospital where the other victims were taken.

Violent crime is unusual in China, but the speed with which Tuesday's attack was reported by Shanghai's state media was also rare.

Eastday.com published frequent updates, posting news of the deaths well before officials were ready to confirm them.

Authorities, however, quickly pulled pictures off one photo sharing website that showed blood pooling in the gutter outside the station.

The killings come after up to 30,000 people took to the streets in a county town in China's southwest Guizhou province on Saturday, protesting and rioting over a police investigation into the death of a teenage girl.

Protesters claimed the girl had been raped and killed by a relative of a local official who had ordered the police to cover up the crime.

On Tuesday, central authorities reopened the case and in a rare acknowledgement admitted that the unrest was due to dissatisfaction with the government.

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