Eight killed and 17 injured after knife attack at vocational school in China

Chinese police said the motive of the suspect is linked to academic and financial frustrations

“Eight people were killed and 17 others injured after a stabbing attack at a vocational school in the eastern Chinese city of Wuxi on Saturday (November 16, 2024) night,” local police said.

“The attack occurred at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in Yixing county at around 18:30 local time on Saturday (November 16, 2024),” the Yixing police said in a statement.

The suspect, a 21-year old male student surnamed Xu, was detained on site.

Police said Wu had failed his examinations and could not graduate, and that he was dissatisfied about his pay at an internship. He decided to vent his frustrations via the attack, the statement said.

This is the second deadly attack within a week after a man drove his car into people at a sports facility in the southern city of Zhuhai, leaving 35 people dead and injured 43 others.

China has seen a number of attacks in which suspects appear to target members of the public at random.

In October 2024, a man was detained after he allegedly attacked children with a knife at a school in Beijing. Five people were wounded.

In September, three people were killed in a knife attack in a Shanghai supermarket, and 15 others were injured. Police said at the time that the suspect had personal financial disputes and came to Shanghai to “vent his anger.”

The same month, a Japanese schoolboy died after being stabbed on his way to school in the southern city of Shenzhen.

Published - November 17, 2024 12:45 am IST