Six stabbed to death at kindergarten after ‘attacker’s child hit by car’

An assailant with a knife killed six people and injured one other person on Monday at a kindergarten in southern Guangdong province, according to Chinese police and state media reports.

A suspect, a 25-year-old man surnamed Wu, has been arrested in connection with the attack, which occurred at around 7:40am, according to a police statement. An investigation is ongoing.

Police are still confirming victims’ identities, though one state media report cited a city spokesman who said they included teachers, students and parents.

No potential motive has been given via official sources, though a Chinese news outlet cited an unidentified witness saying the attacker’s child had been hit earlier by a car driven by one of those killed.

Videos purporting to show the crime scene posted online by passers-by have reportedly already been censored in China, though the incident remains a trending topic on social media with hundreds of millions of views.

The Chinese government has boosted school security since a spate of school attacks in 2010 when three incidents occurred in as many days, with assailants using knives and hammers.

Some users questioned whether security at schools was enough, as attacks are still occurring.

Others called for the suspect to face the death penalty for perpetrating such an attack against children. One described the crime as “outrageous,” wondering “how many families will be destroyed by this”.

China prohibits gun ownership and has prevalent security in public areas, making shootings rare, though violent crimes do still happen at times via knife attacks or homemade explosives.

A number of stabbings have occurred in recent years at schools.

Last August, three were killed and six wounded at a kindergarten in Jiangxi province. In 2021, two children were killed and 16 wounded in another attack in Guangxi province.

In 2020, a school guard was accused of injuring more than 30 people with a knife. The year prior, a man sprayed people with a corrosive liquid and wounded about 50 people, mostly students in Yunnan provice.

In 2018, a 28-year-old man killed nine university students and injured 12 others at a school in Shaanxi province.

The attacks have at times been linked to mental health issues, which can go untreated or underreported given a cultural stigma in the country.

Chinese authorities have at times attributed such attacks to assailants holding personal grudges or acting out to seek revenge.

The Telegraph was unable to independently confirm details of the attack on Monday morning or the victims.