A man was shot dead Monday after he kidnapped a five-year-old girl in downtown Beijing and refused to respond to police officers' request to let the girl go.

The kidnapping occurred at around 11:20 a.m. and the kidnapper was shot dead at around noon, police said. The girl was not harmed.

The incident occurred in Caiyuan Street, Xuanwu District.

According to witnesses, the kidnapper told police he had come to Beijing to meet a female friend he had met through the Internet but who had refused to meet him.

He demanded police take him to the female friend, the witnesses said.

The man was in a very tense state and repeatedly threatened to harm the girl, the witnesses added.

The man was killed by a police sniper at 12:11 p.m. after persuasion failed.

An initial police report said the man, surnamed Zhang, was a 24-year-old native of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The kidnapping was random, with Zhang grabbing the girl as she walked with her father on the street.

Investigations are continuing.