Police in central China's Hunan province said?they had captured a man, who went on a killing spree and shot dead 12 people and seriously injured?two Saturday morning.

Liu Aibing, 34, was captured at about 6:50 a.m. in a hill in Qingtang township in Anhua County. About 1,000 police involved in the manhunt.

Policemen investigate at the scene where a farmer killed 12 and injured two in a shooting and arson in Yiyang, Central China's Hunan province, December 12, 2009. [Xinhua]

The crime occurred at about 5 a.m. when Liu fired a shotgun at people in his own village of Gaoming township in Yiyang City's Anhua County, a police spokesman with Hunan's Department of Public Security said.

Liu also set five houses on fire, he added.

The critically injured are being treated in a local hospital, he said.

Among the dead are Liu's father and other near relatives. The dead age between 6 and 86.

Liu returned home two months ago from Hunan's neighboring province of Guangdong, China's "factory of the world", where he worked as a migrant worker. He has a history of mental illness.

The police are probing further into the case, the spokesman said without giving more details.