BEIJING (AP) — A man who killed nine people and injured nine others in a Chinese nursing home has been sentenced to death, the official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday.

Luo Renchu had gathered bricks and pummeled residents at the home in the central city of Loudi following a dispute with the owners over allegedly unpaid wages, Xinhua said, citing a verdict handed down on Friday by the city's Intermediate People's Court.

Xinhua said the attack occurred on Feb. 19, 2015, after the owners failed to pay 40,000 yuan ($6,150) owed to Luo and his wife. Calls to the court and local government offices rang unanswered Saturday

Retirement homes in China are drawing new attention as the country's overall population rapidly ages, mainly as a result of a shrinking fertility rate exacerbated by rules limiting most couples to just one child. Smaller family sizes and increased mobility have challenged traditional notions that children should house and care for their parents into their old age.