In China’s southern Guangdong province, a kindergarten stabbing has claimed the lives of six individuals, three of whom were children.
In Lianjiang, according to the police, they have detained a 25-year-old guy with the last name Wu.
Two parents and a teacher make up the remaining victims, according to AFP, which quoted a local official. Additionally, one person gets hurt.
Police have described this as an instance of “intentional assault” but have not provided any other information regarding a potential motive.
On Monday at 7:40 local time (23:40 Sunday GMT), the attack took place as parents were dropping off their kids at summer camp. A man was taken into custody about 8:00.
The area around the kindergarten has been cordoned off, a store owner who works nearby informed the BBC.
A little more than 1.87 million people live in Lianjiang.
Outrage and astonishment were triggered by the footage of the incident as they proliferated on Chinese social media.
The stabbings also followed an unsettlingly predictable pattern. Although China forbids the use of firearms, there have been a number of knife assaults there in recent years. In one occasion, the assailant also injured a class of 50 children with chemical spray.
Since 2010, the BBC has recorded at least 17 knife incidents in educational institutions such colleges and universities. There have been ten of those between 2018 and 2023.
Three people were killed and six others were injured when a knife-wielding attacker invaded a kindergarten in the southern Jiangxi province in August of last year.
Two children lost their lives and 16 others were hurt in a mass stabbing that occurred in Beiliu City, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, in April 2021.
In a knife attack at a kindergarten in Chongqing, southwest China, in October 2018, 14 kids were hurt.
The culprits in the majority of these incidents are male and have shown animosity toward society. Similar trends have been observed in mass murders in other nations, including the US and Japan. However, analysts speculate that there may be some other factors at play in China’s apparent rise in mass stabbings.
They surmise that one factor might be the Covid-19 outbreak, which resulted in perhaps of the world’s longest and strictest lockdowns in Chinese cities. Although the consequences are not fully known yet, they may include sentiments of rage and hatred as well as the termination of relationships, investments, and jobs.
The high levels of stress and expectations placed on young males in Chinese society are mentioned as additional potential contributing factors. High rates of youth unemployment and a growing rich-poor split are making these issues worse. According to an expert, some people who have a strong feeling of “social deprivation” may resort to violence as a way to express their displeasure with society.
Since 2010, Chinese authorities have increased security in and around schools. In order to safeguard the safety of instructors and pupils, the Ministry of Public Security had asked local authorities to “resolutely crack down” on criminal activity that year.
The education ministry also required emergency evacuation drills in schools following the attack in April 2021.
Beijing is also withholding certain facts of Monday’s incident at the kindergarten due to concerns of copycat strikes.
further BBC Chinese reporting
