Six people were killed and one injured in a knife attack outside a kindergarten in southern China, according to police Lianjiang City and Chinese state media.
The incident occurred around 7:40 a.m. local time on Monday in Hengshan City, Lianjiang, Guangdong Province, police said in a statement.
Global Times state media said the attacker had used a knife and the police were still confirming the identity of the victim. Quoting eyewitnesses, it said the victim included one teacher, two parents and three children.
Police are investigating the attack, while a suspect known to be a man surnamed Wu aged about 25 years, was arrested at 8 am.
Although violent crimes are rare in China, due to strict weapons laws and strict security, stabbing incidents over the past few years have raised concerns about school security.
Recent events sparked emotional debate on social media platform Weibo, becoming the most discussed discussion with 290 million views.
Several social media users have called for the suspect to face the death penalty.
"It's outrageous to do this to children who don't have any power at all. How many families will be destroyed by this... I support the death penalty," a Weibo user said.
Other users question the safety of schools, especially after previous similar attacks.
"Why do such cases continue to emerge?"
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In August last year, three people were killed and six others injured in a kindergarten stabbing in Jiangxi's southern province. Earlier in 2021, a man killed two children and injured 16 others in a kindergarten in the southwestern region of Guangxi.
Attacks on children also highlight mental health, which often escapes attention due to cultural stigma inherent in mental illness.
In 2017, a 22-year-old man detonated an explosive device outside a kindergarten in Jiangsu Province, killing himself and several others, and injuring dozens of people. The man had neurological disorders and wrote words of death on the walls of his house, according to state media.
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