The gates outside the Zhuhai Stadium in China have been closed. Inside, the arena was dark, as were the surrounding grounds.
It was here, hours before, where a lot of people were killed when a man drives an SUV into a crowd. Many others were injured.
Only security guards were seen roaming behind the fence when the BBC arrived, they were ordered to guard the journalists.
Someone approached us and asked: “Are you journalists?” When I asked why he wanted to know, he replied: “Oh just to understand the situation.
He and his partner took pictures of us and started making phone calls, watching us as they did so.
Outside the gates, people passed by to see what was going on. But among them there was a group of about a dozen people who were interested in us.
The woman began to shout to others, saying: “Look, Gentiles, Gentiles.”
Soon the man who was with him violently interrupted our report, grabbed me and shouted.
Often, when serious news like this unfolds in China, local Communist Party officials organize gangs to impersonate angry locals tasked with targeting foreign journalists and preventing any coverage.
It doesn’t always make news, it just makes China look bad.
After the death of former Premier Li Keqiang last year, crowds of these faithful people were sent to the street outside his old home. Any journalist who came was confused, shouted at, pushed and abused.
Premier Li’s death was a sensation in the party not only because it was sudden and unexpected – but also because he was the last of the old liberal wing. It showed that the party is now completely dominated by supporters of President Xi Jinping.
But even in the smallest incidents the same thing happens.
Last month, we went to a shopping mall in Shanghai where a man stabbed and killed strangers.
The entire area was cleaned of any evidence within hours of this horrific incident. The next morning, the mall was up and running as usual: no crime scene tapes, no flowers for the dead.
On one level, you can understand this – most of these mysterious attacks on the public are copycat in nature. Tuesday’s attack is not an isolated incident, although the death toll is shocking.
But the officials here sometimes want these bad things to go away as soon as possible.
Hours after our confrontation outside Zhuhai’s attack site, dozens of police had arrived to better manage the situation.
A crowd of residents also gathered to light candles to remember the dead, and videos circulated on social media showed lines of volunteers at hospitals donating blood.
President Xi urged the officials to control the social problems in order to prevent this kind of thing from happening again in the future.
But, again, China is left wondering what drove someone to such unimaginable horror. It is very difficult to find answers to this one.
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