Six Killed In China Kindergarten Attack
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BEIJING, CHINA (Worthy News) – Chinese police said Monday they had detained a young man suspected of attacking a kindergarten in China’s Guangdong province, killing six people and injuring one.
Tuesday’s stabbing attack in Lianjiang county by the 25-year-old suspect, named only by the surname Wu, underscored broader concern about violence against school children in the Communist-run nation.
Chinese media reported that both adults and children were among the victims. It was the latest in a series of stabbing incidents at Chinese pre-schools over the past few years, raising broader concerns about school safety.
Videos allegedly from the attack appeared on Weibo, China’s largest social media website, prompting outrage from users.
One video showed a man carrying a knife walking past the kindergarten’s playground. A separate video revealed several victims bleeding outside the school.
Within hours of the attack, the topic was trending on social media, and a discussion reportedly amassed over 290 million views.
USERS OUTRAGED
“It’s outrageous to do this to children who have no power at all. How many families will be destroyed by this … I support the death penalty,” one user on the platform said.
Another added: “Why do such cases still continue to emerge?”
While China observes strict gun laws, the country experienced several kindergarten stabbings in recent years.
In 2021, a man killed two children and wounded 16 at a kindergarten in the southwestern region of Guangxi.
Attacks on children have also spotlighted mental health, which often goes under the radar due to the cultural stigma attached to mental illnesses, experts say.
In 2017, a 22-year-old man set off an explosive device outside a kindergarten in Jiangsu province, killing himself and a few others while wounding dozens.