From the South China Morning Post, via Asia Media:
Three Guangdong villagers were killed by mistake and eight injured because a hard core of protesters incited a “chaotic” nighttime riot that required police to fire warning shots, the mainland’s official media said last night.
In the first formal account of violent clashes between police and villagers in Dongzhou village, Shanwei city, Xinhua last night published a local government statement. Entitled “The Truth of December 6th Incident of Red Sea Bay in Shanwei”, it called the confrontation “a case of serious violence against the people’s police by several hundred villagers instigated by a small number of people”.