A Frenchman, identified as John, was in stable condition after undergoing a three-hour surgery at Nanshan People’s Hospital on Tuesday. The man was stabbed with a knife as he tried to stop the suspect from hurting people on a street in Shekou on Tuesday afternoon.

Police and government officers visited John at the hospital Wednesday and said they would report his brave action to related departments for commendation and awards.

The Nanshan District Public Security Bureau released an official statement Wednesday and confirmed that the suspect, surnamed Zhou, 27, began attacking people with a knife after he had been rejected at a job interview in a restaurant for being drunk at 5:22 p.m. Tuesday on Haichang Street in Shekou. The Frenchman who passed by and intervened to stop Zhou was stabbed.

Witnesses said that the Frenchman, who was walking with his 5-year-old son, stepped in when he saw two men fighting and no one else was helping. He received knife wounds on his head, back and left arm, and was rushed to a nearby hospital, Shekou News reported.

A social worker, Yang Yan, from the Management and Service Center for Expats subordinate to Shekou Subdistrict and Nanshan Exit and Entry Brigade, was sent to the hospital to provide help for John and his family.

Yang said, upon arriving at the hospital, that she saw the expat’s wife, Wang Mei, was in sorrow and anxious about her husband’s injuries. But the surgery went successfully and would not likely leave sequelae to John, according to doctors.

Later in an interview with Shekou News, John said that he is a lover of Chinese martial arts and has been practicing various types of kung fu for 18 years. He moved to Shekou in 2010 and has enjoyed living in the neighborhood.

John said that he had not used all of his strength because instead of hurting the suspect, John only wanted to control the suspect. However, he was stabbed by the suspect when he let his guard down.

Wang told the newspaper that her husband is a man with a sense of justice and she always admires his bravery.

Nanshan police announced that the suspect is under criminal detention and a further investigation will take place.

According to the owner of the restaurant, Zhou was looking for a job and came for the job interview at noon Tuesday. The owner decided to hire the young man after a 10-minute interview, but changed his mind when Zhou came back drunk in the afternoon and slept on the chairs inside the restaurant.

When the owner and other staff asked Zhou to leave, the suspect got furious and broke the restaurant’s glass door with a broom. Zhou kept threatening the others and a fight broke out between the suspect and a staff member.

It was then that the Frenchman was passing by and came up to ask them to stop fighting in Chinese, according to a video provided by the restaurant owner. Zhou turned around, went into a nearby shop and came back to John holding a knife in his hand.

John kicked the man in the leg and put him down, but John was stabbed with the knife and his left wrist was cut. The Frenchman kept the suspect under his body until others came to control the man.