Man with knife breaks into primary school in southern China, stabs 18 students, 1 teacher

Man stabs 18 students, 1 teacher in south China

GUANGZHOU, China — A man wielding a knife broke into a primary school in southern China and stabbed 18 students and a teacher Wednesday, the same day another man was executed for killing eight children in a similar attack last month, state media reported.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the wounded had been taken to a hospital, but did not say how seriously they had been hurt.

It said the man broke into Leicheng No.1 Primary School in Leizhou city at about 3 p.m. (0700 GMT) and hacked at the students and teacher.

Parents rushed to the school, and school officials were asking the rest of the students to go home, Xinhua said. It said the man, described as in his 40s, was in police custody.

There was no immediate word on a motive for the attack, which came the same day Zhang Minsheng, 41, was executed in neighboring Fujian province for the March 23 murders of eight children outside their elementary school as they waited with their parents for classes to start.

During his trial earlier this month, Zhang admitted to killing the children because he had been upset after being jilted by a woman and treated badly by her wealthy family.

China has witnessed a series of school attacks in recent years, most blamed on people with personal grudges or suffering from mental illness, leading to calls for improved security.

Two weeks ago a mentally ill man hacked to death a second grader and an elderly woman with a meat cleaver in southern Guangxi, and injured five other people.