Six Persons Including Three Children Killed in Knife Attack at Kindergarten School in China

In a horrifying incident in a southern Chinese city, a man carried out a revenge attack at a kindergarten school, resulting in the death of six people, including three children and a teacher. Another individual was injured during the assault. Disturbing photos and video footage circulating on Chinese social media showed the attacker, armed with a long dagger, prowling through the privately-run school in Lianjiang City, Guangdong province, targeting his victims.

According to witness accounts reported by official media outlets, the victims comprised one teacher, two parents, and three children. The attack was reportedly motivated by revenge, as the 25-year-old suspect, identified as Wu, sought retribution against one of the victims for allegedly causing harm to his child in a car accident and refusing to provide compensation. The assailant's act of seeking revenge is believed to have triggered the fatal incident, as stated in a report by the state-run Global Times.

This tragic event highlights a disturbing trend of targeted attacks on children in China. Just two weeks prior, on June 26, an 8-year-old boy was brutally beaten to death by a martial arts coach. The boy had enrolled in a martial arts training institution on June 10 and lost his life just eight days later. These incidents of violence have raised concerns, prompting China's Ministry of Education to urge authorities to enhance the safety measures in primary and secondary schools and kindergartens. The ministry emphasized the need to prioritize student safety and advised schools across the country to have police presence during critical periods.

Unfortunately, revenge attacks, including knife assaults, on kindergarten schools in China have become distressingly common. Police attribute such attacks to individuals who harbor grievances or suffer from mental instability. Since 2010, there have been approximately 17 reported knife attacks in schools and educational institutions, with ten of them occurring between 2018 and 2023. In response, authorities temporarily withheld reporting on these incidents to avoid inspiring copycat attacks.

In recent years, there have been several tragic incidents in primary and secondary schools in China. In June, a rare hostage-taking incident took place in Beijing's Haidian district, where a 26-year-old man drove a car onto a high school campus, resulting in the injury of one student. Furthermore, in April 2021, a knife attack at a kindergarten in Guangxi claimed the lives of two children and left 18 others wounded. In June 2018, a 29-year-old man used a knife to kill two primary school students in Shanghai. The perpetrator was subsequently executed in December 2020, as reported by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.