BEIJING - China wants assurances that its consulates in the United States are safe after a man allegedly unloaded "more than a dozen" gunshots at the Chinese consulate in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon.

"There was a gunshot at me, directed toward me. I hit the ground and I was praying," said security guard Cipriano Gutierrez.

"I grabbed phone books and put them over my head. A bullet came in the room right next to my knee. I thought I was going to die."