A series of uncoordinated mass stabbings, hammer attacks, and cleaver attacks in the People's Republic of China began in March 2010. The spate of attacks left at least 90 dead and some 473 injured. As most cases had no known motive, analysts have blamed mental health problems caused by rapid social change for the rise in these kinds of mass murder and murder-suicide incidents.[1]

As the Chenpeng Village Primary School stabbing was followed by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in the United States hours later[2][3] comparisons were drawn between the two. The difference in gun control laws between the two countries was used to explain the disparity in casualties of the school attacks by journalists and politicians, including U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler,[4][5] and an article in the Associated Press noted that despite the different outcomes, an underlying commonality between the attacks was the increased frequency of school attacks because "attackers often seek out the vulnerable, hoping to amplify their outrage before they themselves often commit suicide."[6]

List of attacks

March 2010

On March 23, 2010, Zheng Minsheng (郑民生)[7] 41, murdered eight children with a knife in an elementary school in Nanping,[8] Fujian province;[9] The attack was widely reported in Chinese media (called 南平实验小学重大凶杀案),[7] sparking fears of copycat crimes.[9] Following a quick trial, Zheng Minsheng was executed about one month later on April 28.[8] Media reported a history of mental health issues, but police stated that Zheng had no history of mental illness, contradicting earlier reports. Zheng said that he performed the attack after being turned down by a girl and suffering "unfair treatment" from the girl's wealthy family.

April 2010

On April 13, a mentally ill man went on a stabbing rampage at Xizhen Primary School in Xichang, southern Guangxi, killing an eight-year-old boy and an 80-year-old woman passerby. It was the second random attack on schoolchildren in the mainland in three weeks. Also injured were five people - two boys, aged seven and 12, a seven-year-old girl and a couple in their 30s. The knife-wielding suspect, Yang Jiaqin, aged 40, was detained.[10]

On April 28, just a few hours after the execution of Zheng Minsheng in neighboring Fujian Province,[11] in Leizhou,[12] Guangdong another knife-wielding man named Chen Kangbing, 33 (陈康炳)[13] at Hongfu Primary School wounded 16 students and a teacher.[9] Chen Kangbing had been a teacher at a different primary school in Leizhou, but was on sick leave due to mental illness[13] He was sentenced to death by a court in Zhanjiang in June.[14]

On April 29 in Taixing,[8] Jiangsu, unemployed 47-year-old Xu Yuyuan went to Zhongxin Kindergarten[15] and stabbed 28 students and two teachers after stabbing the security guard;[9] most of the Taixing students were 4 years old.[16] The attack was the second in China in just two days.

On April 30, Wang Yonglai used a hammer to cause head injury to preschool children in Weifang,[8] Shandong, then used gasoline to commit suicide by self-immolation.[9]

May 2010

An attacker named Wu Huanming (吴环明), 48, killed seven children and two adults and injured 11 other persons with a cleaver at a kindergarten in Hanzhong, Shaanxi on May 12, 2010;[8] early reports were removed from the internet in China, for fear that mass coverage of such violence could provoke copycat attacks.[8][17] The attacker later committed suicide at his house; he was the landlord of the school,[18] Shengshui Temple private kindergarten, and had been involved in an ongoing dispute with the school administrator about when the school would move out of the building.[18]

On May 18, 2010 at Hainan Institute of Science and Technology (海南科技职业学院), a vocational college in Haikou, Hainan, more than 10 men[19] charged into a dormitory wielding knives around 2:30 am;[20] after attacking the security guard and disabling security cameras, 9 students were injured, 1 seriously.[20] The local men attacked the dorm in an act of revenge and retaliation against college students following conflict the previous day at an off-campus food stall in which 4 students were injured, for a total of 13.[21]

August 2010

On 4 August 2010, 26-year-old Fang Jiantang (方建堂) slashed more than 20 children and staff with a 60 cm knife, killing three children and a teacher at a kindergarten in Zibo, Shandong province. Of the injured, 3 other children and 4 teachers were taken to the hospital. After being caught Fang confessed to the crime. There was no known motive.[22] Since the start of the year, a total of 27 people had died and at least 80 were injured in various knife attacks.

August 2011

Eight children, between the ages of three and five,[23] were hurt in Minhang District, Shanghai when an employee at a child-care centre for migrant workers slashed the children with a box-cutter.[24] The woman had worked there for years, but was thought to have psychiatric problems.

September 2011

In September 2011, a young girl and three adults taking their children to nursery school were killed in Gongyi,[25] Henan by 30-year-old Wang Hongbin with an axe.[26] Another child and an adult were seriously wounded but survived.[27] The suspect is a local farmer who is suspected of being mentally ill.[28]

September 2012

On 21 September 2012, three children died and 13 more were injured after a suspected mental patient allegedly broke into a nursery in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and attacked students with a knife. The suspect, Wu Yechang, aged 25, was caught on-site by police officers, who rushed to the nursery after receiving emergency calls.[29]

December 2012

On 14 December 2012, a 36-year-old villager in the village of Chenpeng, Henan Province, stabbed 23 children and an elderly woman at the village's primary school as children were arriving for classes.[30] The attacker was restrained at the school, and later arrested.[31] All of the victims survived and were treated at three hospitals, though some were reportedly seriously injured, with fingers or ears cut off, and had to be transferred to larger hospitals for specialized care.[32]

March 2013

A knife-wielding attacker killed two relatives and then slashed 11 people, including six children, outside a school in China's commercial hub of Shanghai. The man, whose surname was given as Zang, killed his sister and his sister's mother-in-law at their home in a family dispute over money. Zang then attacked parents and children outside an elementary school in the suburban district of Fengxian just as classes were let out.[33]

Two boys died after they were beaten by a member of staff at a primary school in southern China. The boys, who attended a private school in Yulin City, in the Guangxi Zhuang region, died later in hospital.[34]

September 2013

Two adults were killed outside Balijie Primary School, and 44 others were injured after a homemade explosive detonated. Most of the injured were schoolchildren. One of those killed is the bomber, who was riding his motorcycle during the explosion.[35][36][37]

May 2014

A man armed with a meat-cleaver slashed eight children on a playground. Eight students were injured; one was seriously injured and seven others sustained minor injuries. A 35-year-old man was arrested.[38][39]

September 2014

A man stabbed three children to death at a primary school in central China and then committed suicide by jumping off a building. The attacker, identified by his surname Chen, broke into Dongfang Primary School in Hubei province around 10:20 in the morning. Wielding a knife, the man stabbed eight students and a teacher before he took his own life.[40]

February 2016

A man in southern China non-fatally stabbed 10 schoolchildren before killing himself. The incident took place in Haikou, the capital city of the southern island province of Hainan. The motive for the attack remains unclear.[41]

September 2016

Four children were stabbed to death as they were walking to their school. A 56-year-old suspect is wanted.[42]

November 2016

Around 11:40 a.m. 58-year-old Lei Mingyue entered an after-school care center in Hantai District and attacked students lining up for lunch with an axe. After wounding seven female students from Beiguan Primary School he fled the premises, injuring two passersby during his escape. He was later arrested by police and stated he carried out the attack as revenge on society after he was arrested twice for theft.[43][44]

May 2017

A driver angry over the loss of overtime pay set fire to his school bus in the eastern city of Weihai, killing 13 people, including 11 children from China and South Korea. The driver bought gasoline which he ignited while the bus was travelling through a tunnel in the coastal city that is home to many South Korea businesses. Police determined that the fire started on the floor of the bus next to the driver's seat, where the cap to a cigarette lighter and gasoline residue were found. All 13 people aboard the bus were killed, including the driver himself and a teacher.[45]

June 2017

On 15 June 2017, a bombing at a kindergarten in Feng County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, east China, killed at least eight people and injured 65 others. The perpetrator, 22-year-old Xu Taoran, died in the blast. Subsequent investigation revealed that Xu was mentally ill and obsessed with death and destruction.[46] The blast occurred at the entrance of the kindergarten, while children were leaving school. Two people died on the spot, and five succumbed to injuries at the hospital. Nine remained in critical condition in the aftermath.[47] Due to the shattering bomb parts, over 60 people were injured and needed medical attention.

April 2018

Nine people were killed in a stabbing outside a middle school in northwestern China. The attack allegedly was carried out by a former pupil seeking revenge for having been bullied. Another 12 people were injured resulting from the rampage outside the No. 3 Middle School in the rural area that took place as classes were being dismissed for the evening.[48][49]

June 2018

On June 28, outside Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary School, one of the best private elementary schools in the city, a man attacked three schoolboys and a mother with a kitchen knife, fatally wounding two boys and injuring the others. The attacker, 29, was caught by pedestrians at the scene. Unemployed, he arrived in Shanghai in early June but failed to find a job. To “take revenge on society,” he decided to commit the crime, the man told the police.[50]

October 2018

A knife-wielding assailant injured 14 children at a kindergarten in the western Chinese city of Chongqing. The attacker, a 39-year-old woman, was taken into custody. No motive for the assault was immediately publicized.[51]

January 2019

A 49-year-old man was arrested after attacking 20 children at a primary school in Beijing with a hammer. Three of the children suffered severe injuries.[52]

March 2019

On the afternoon of March 14, 2019, a man attacked students near the Guanghuadao Primary School, 17 students were injured.[53]

September 2019

An attacker killed eight students and injured two others at an elementary school in central China on the first day of the new semester. The attack occurred around 8 a.m. Monday in Chaoyangpo village of Enshi city in Hubei province. The suspect was a 40-year-old man surnamed Yu. How the children were attacked was not disclosed and the motive for the attack was unclear. The suspect was released last June after serving his sentence for attempted murder.[54]

November 2019

More than 50 people, almost all of them young children, were hospitalized in southwest China on Tuesday after a man broke into a kindergarten and sprayed them with a corrosive chemical as “revenge on society.” Fifty-one children and three teachers were injured in the attack in Kaiyuan, in Yunnan province. Two were seriously injured, but their injuries were not life-threatening.[55]

June 2020

39 people (37 students and two adults) were injured in a knife attack at a primary school. The students suffered mild injuries; two adults suffered more severe injuries.[56]

December 2020

On December 27, 2020, seven people were killed and seven others injured during a mass stabbing attack outside a school in Kaiyuan, in the Liaoning province. As the school was closed at the time of the incident, no students or teachers were hurt. The victims were all passersby, mainly middle-aged or elderly women. The attacker then stabbed and wounded a policeman before being arrested.[57]

April 2021

On April 29, 2021, a knife-wielding man broke into a school killing two children and wounding 16 others. The mass stabbing occurred in Beiliu, a city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southern China. A man with the surname Zeng, aged 24, was apprehended by police. Authorities didn't confirm a motive for the attack, but Hong Kong news outlets, including Oriental Daily and Apple Daily, reported that the suspect was going through a divorce and his wife worked at the school.[58]

August 2022

On August 3, 2022, three people were killed and six others wounded in a knife attack at a kindergarten in southeast China's Jiangxi province.[59] The suspect, identified as 48-year-old Liu Xiaohui, fled to a mountainous area in a neighboring county after the attack, and was arrested 12 hours later.[60]

April 2023

At 5:00 p.m. on April 19, 2023, a mentally unstable student allegedly stabbed seven people at the Qingdao Campus of Shandong University of Science and Technology with a knife, killing one. He was subsequently arrested.[61]

May 2023

On May 14, 2023, a sophomore of the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China allegedly stabbed two of his neighbours to death and severely injured his mother by beating her into a coma. The following day, he went to the Tongzhou campus of his school, where he allegedly stabbed three people, including the vice-principal. It is suspected that the vice-principal died.[62]

July 2023

On July 10, 2023, six people were killed and one wounded in a mass stabbing at a kindergarten in Lianjiang, Guangdong province. The suspect, a 25-year-old man with the surname Wu, was arrested by police.[63]

Reaction and response

Since the recent spate of attacks, many parents are now worried about their children's safety in schools and have since asked local officials and school governors to step up security at the schools. The education ministry has formed an emergency panel to tackle the violence and some local police authorities have distributed such instruments as steel pitchforks and pepper spray to security guards in schools. However, not all schools increased their security because of lack of funds to hire extra security. The state media has also been keeping news of these attacks quiet by deleting forum entries on the internet and releasing few facts on the incident for fear of copycat crimes and mass panic. In May 2010, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao commented on the school attacks and said that the "social tensions" in China must be addressed. He also said society was changing rapidly and that subsequent changes in policy were needed. Why these attacks have been specifically targeted at young school children is not entirely explicable, however.[64]

Following the Chenpeng school attack, the Chinese government began posting security guards in schools throughout the country. It was planned that all schools have a security guard by 2013.[65]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "China knife attack 'kills eight'". BBC News. 9 May 2010. Archived from the original on 13 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  2. ↑ 闵拥军砍伤22名学生 中国36岁男子闵拥军落网 - 名城西安 (in Chinese). China-xian.com. 15 December 2012. Archived from the original on 18 December 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  3. ↑ "22 Students In China Stabbed In Elementary School Attack by 36-year-old Villager Min Yongjun". American Live Wire. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  4. ↑ Evan Osnos (15 December 2012). "China Watches Newtown: Guns and American Credibility". The New Yorker.
  5. ↑ McAuliff, Michael (15 December 2012). "On Gun Control, Jerry Nadler Explains What Congress Could Do Right Now". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  6. ↑ Hutzler, Charles (15 December 2012). "Schools and students are targets worldwide". Associated Press. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  7. 1 2 "福建南平血案二审宣判：郑民生杀人被判死刑-搜狐新闻". Sohu. 2010-03-23. Archived from the original on 2010-05-24. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 BODEEN, christopher (May 12, 2010). "9 killed in latest attack at China school". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2010-05-16.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 FlorCruz, Jaime (May 3, 2010). "Execution does not stop Chinese knife attacks". CNN. Archived from the original on May 6, 2010. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  10. ↑ Knifeman strikes at school
  11. ↑ CANAVES, SKY (April 30, 2010). "Knife Attacks Plague Schools in China". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on May 3, 2010. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  12. ↑ Landreth, Jonathan; Yu, Sophie (May 12, 2010). "Nine dead in Chinese school knife attack". London: Times Online. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  13. 1 2 "School knife attack suspect undergoing psychiatric check". China Daily. 2010-04-29. Archived from the original on 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  14. ↑ "China to execute school attacker". Al-Jazeera. June 11, 2010. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2010.
  15. ↑ "28 kindergarten children injured in knife attack". china.org.cn. 2010-04-29. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  16. ↑ "Children hurt in China knife attack". Al Jazeera. April 29, 2010. Archived from the original on May 13, 2010. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  17. ↑ "China school attack leaves 9 dead". Associated Press/CBS News. May 12, 2010.
  18. 1 2 Wong, Edward (May 13, 2010). "Killer in China School Stabbing Knew His Victims". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  19. ↑ Zhen, Liu (May 20, 2010). "College students stabbed in dorms in south China". Reuters. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  20. 1 2 "Report Says 13 Hurt In Latest China Knife Attack". The Seattle Times; Associated Press/NPR. May 19, 2010.
  21. ↑ Zhang, Huan (2010-05-20). "13 students injured in dormitory rampage". China Daily. Archived from the original on 2010-05-20. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  22. ↑ "Man held over fatal knife attack at China kindergarten". BBC News. 4 August 2010. Archived from the original on 4 August 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  23. ↑ "Knife attack at daycare center injures 8 toddlers". china.org.cn. August 30, 2011. Archived from the original on August 31, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  24. ↑ "Eight children hurt in China school attack". BBC News. 29 August 2011. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  25. ↑ "Axe attack in Chinese city of Gongyi 'kills four'". BBC News. 14 September 2011. Archived from the original on 14 September 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  26. ↑ Hong, Haolan (September 14, 2011). "4 die in China ax attack". cnn.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  27. ↑ "Axe-Wielding Man Kills Four on Chinese Street". voanews.com. September 14, 2011. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  28. ↑ "Axe-wielding man attacks 2 preschoolers, 4 adults". Xinhua. September 14, 2011. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  29. ↑ "3 children killed in nursery rampage". Archived from the original on 2021-07-24. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  30. ↑ "Suspect in school knife attack 'feared end of the world'|Society|chinadaily.com.cn". Archived from the original on 2012-12-18. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
  31. ↑ "China stabbing spree hurts 22 schoolchildren - World - CBC News". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2012-12-19. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
  32. ↑ 22 stabbed students receive treatment in central China - Xinhua | English.news.cn
  33. ↑ "Two dead in knife attack at Chinese school". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  34. ↑ "Two boys 'beaten to death' in China school". The BBC. Archived from the original on 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  35. ↑ "China school blast kills two, injures 44: state media". Yahoo! News. September 9, 2013. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  36. ↑ Wong, Edward (September 9, 2013). "Bomb Kills 2 Outside School in China". New York Times. Archived from the original on September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  37. ↑ "Bomb on three-wheeled cycle kills 2, injures 44 outside Chinese school". UPI.com. September 9, 2013. Archived from the original on September 12, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  38. ↑ Wagner, Meg. Meat cleaver-wielding attacker slashes 8 children on Chinese playground Archived 2014-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, New York Daily News, May 21, 2014.
  39. ↑ Man stabs 8 students in C China Archived 2014-05-31 at the Wayback Machine, Sina News, May 21, 2014.
  40. ↑ "Man kills 3 children at Chinese school, then jumps off building". CNN. Archived from the original on 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  41. ↑ "China: 10 schoolchildren stabbed; assailant kills himself". CNN. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  42. ↑ "Four children killed in China school stabbing". BBC News. 2014-09-26. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  43. ↑ Dearden, Lizzie (2016-11-25). "Seven children injured in axe attack at primary school". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2017-01-08. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  44. ↑ Zhang, Maggie (2016-11-25). "Seven Chinese children injured by axe-wielding man who wanted 'revenge on society'". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2017-01-08. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  45. ↑ Bodeen, Christopher (16 June 2017). "Kindergarten bombing marks latest Chinese school attack". Washington Times. Archived from the original on 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  46. ↑ Bendix, Aria (16 June 2017). "Suspect Identified in Bombing of Chinese Kindergarten". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2018-02-17. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  47. ↑ "Suspect identified in China kindergarten explosion; 8 killed". AP News. Archived from the original on 2018-02-17. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  48. ↑ "Man executed for killing nine students". China Daily. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  49. ↑ "Death toll rises to 9 in school stabbing attack in China". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  50. ↑ Gao, Charlotte (July 2, 2018). "Shanghai Torn Apart After 2 Schoolboys Killed in Random Knife Attack". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  51. ↑ "14 kids wounded in knife attack at Chinese kindergarten". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2020-02-21. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  52. ↑ "Man attacks 20 children with hammer at primary school in China's capital Beijing". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  53. ↑ "湖南男子持刀进小学砍死2人砍伤2人". 阿波罗新闻网. April 3, 2019. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  54. ↑ "8 killed in latest attack targeting school children in China". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2019-09-14. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  55. ↑ Fifield, Anna (November 12, 2019). "More than 50 children and teachers hospitalized in China after kindergarten attack". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  56. ↑ Pladson, Kristie (2020-06-04). "China: 39 children and staff injured in knife attack on primary school &". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  57. ↑ "Seven killed in knife attack in China's Liaoning province". BBC. Archived from the original on 2020-12-27. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  58. ↑ Yiu, Karson; Theodorou, Christine (April 29, 2021). "2 dead, 16 injured in stabbing at kindergarten in southern China". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  59. ↑ "3 killed, 6 wounded in stabbing rampage at kindergarten in China; suspect at large". CBS News. Archived from the original on 2022-08-04. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  60. ↑ Deng, Shawn; Sharma, Akanksha (August 4, 2022). "Man arrested after 3 killed in China kindergarten stabbing". CNN. Archived from the original on 2022-08-04. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  61. ↑ 陳, 彩梅 (April 20, 2023). "疑想復學慘遭拒！山東科大休學生竟持刀「校門外隨機砍人」1死6傷". Yahoo News (in Chinese). Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  62. ↑ "北京高二生杀邻居、砍伤母、殴同学 官方龟缩一天才通报". World Journal (in Chinese (Taiwan)). May 16, 2023. Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  63. ↑ Ng, Kelly; Wingfield-Hayes, Rupert (10 July 2023). "China kindergarten stabbing: Six dead in Lianjiang". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  64. ↑ "'Social tensions' behind China school attacks". BBC News. 14 May 2010. Archived from the original on 11 July 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  65. ↑ China to deploy more security guards at schools - Thaindian News
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.