China school knife attack leaves 23 injured

An image circulated on Weibo, China's equivalent to Twitter, allegedly shows family members with a child hospitalized for injuries suffered in a knife attack at a school in the village of Chengping, in Henan Province, Dec. 14, 2012.

BEIJING A man wielding a knife attacked students Friday at a school in central China, leaving 22 children and one adult injured, according to state-run media reports.

The attack occurred at the gate of an elementary school in the village of Chengping, in Henan Province. Police arrested the attacker, who they identified as local resident Min Yingjun, 36.

Children as young as six were among those hospitalized after the attack, suffering injuries including slashes to the ears and head.

An official at Guangshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, the local facility, told CBS News at least two students had been transferred to the larger city of Wuhan, not far from Chengping, for treatment. The editor of the local newspaper which first reported the story said none of the children had injuries severe enough to threaten their lives.

The attack marks the latest in a series of violent assaults at elementary schools in China. In 2010, a total of 18 children were killed in four separate attacks. On March 23 of that year, Zheng Minsheng attacked children at an elementary school in Fujian Province, killing eight.

One month later, just a few hours after Zheng Minsheng was executed for his crime, another man, Chen Kanbing wounded 16 students and a teacher in a knife attack at another primary school in Fujian. The following month, on May 12, a man named Wu Huangming killed seven children and two adults with a meat cleaver at a kindergarten in Shaanxi Province. That attack was followed by an August 4 assault by Fang Jiantang, who killed three children and one teacher with a knife at a kindergarten in Shandong Province.

In 2011, a young girl and three adults were killed with an axe at an elementary school in Henan Province by a 30-year-old man named Wang Hongbin, and eight children were hurt in Shanghai after an employee at a child care center attacked them with a box cutter.

Some Chinese bloggers have blamed the lack of freedom of expression for the attacks, suggesting people frustrated by their own circumstances but lacking the means to seek justice or voice their concerns with the all-powerful communist government, lash out instead at the least powerful members of society.

China's lack of mental health care facilities may also be partly to blame for the attacks. There are almost no mental health care facilities in rural communities, which have experienced dramatic changes over the last several years as China's economy has grown.

[Th3JaCk3L]

Want a teaser watch the Batman movie the Dark Knight Rises. There is a scene with the police chief standing over a table with a map, two walkie talkies, and two gps's. Notice where his left hand is place on the map for a split second. If you can slow down or pause the video with zooming in on it. You will see the only words view able on the map... Which Says "SANDY HOOK" just under his left hand. That movie came out before the shooting and it is the only wording that can be scene on the maps enjoy.

[RedWine2012]

Schools in China -- 42 killed in 2 months. But hey, at least they control guns. WHEW!
March 23: Zheng Minshen in Nanping City, Fujian Province, waited outside a school gate with a knife about 30 centimeters long, killing eight students and injuring five.
April 12: About 400 meters away from the Xizhen Elementary School of Hepu County, Guangxi Province, an eight-year-old student and an elderly woman were found dead, and another five were injured, including two students, a toddler, and a middle-aged couple.
April 28: A man ran into an elementary school in Leizhou City of Guangdong Province with a knife and injured 18 students and a teacher. The resulting investigation showed that the 33-year-old suspect Chen Kangbing was a teacher at another public school in Leizhou City, on "sick leave" since February 2006.
April 29: Xu Yuyuan broke into a kindergarten affiliated with Taixing Township of Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, stabbing and killing 32 people.
April 30: The 45-year-old Wang Yonglai of Shangzhuang Village of Weifang City, Shandong Province, forcibly entered Shanzhuang Elementary School on a motorcycle, carrying a hammer and gasoline. He wounded five preschoolers with the hammer and then killed himself via self-immolation using the gasoline.

[cat1234]

Reality people.

No one truly cares about gun violence. Unless the victim is an innocent/s.

People will look the other way when criminals off each other.
They will reload and pass the ammunition.

[jordanlayla]

people with mental illness are not being taken care of. they are often ignored in society as just being "anti-social" or due to the complicity of managing their disease, shunned while they are growing up. since the 1980"s, in the USA, you see lots of them, homeless on the street, or struggling in their homes with their families who can not handle. These people, left uncared for, are victims too, and they will continue to take innocent lives until we as a whole help them and prevent their uncontrollable actions. We need to keep weapons out of their reach.

[Sentby]

Its Satan. He hopes you continue to think its just mental illness. As long as you do, you will never seek the one thing that can be used against him. Christ.

[IPonUall2]

"I didn't know I was looking for him Lt."

Forrest Gump

[TimeToEvolve]

The very purpose of guns is to kill people. Guns don't kill people they just make it real easy. But an armed society is a polite society. Smile. Or else!

[IPonUall2]

Funny, my gun's purpose is to protect my interests.

[Hippieatheart63]

What a shame. Doesn't look like it took a gun to injure a lot of folks here. Not much for you gun control folks to say here. Oh wait, Knife control?

[KevinM1974]

When in the USA someone takes a gun into a school and starts shooting randomly, usually dozens end up dead. While of course knives can be deadly, it is much less likely for a random mass-knife attack to leave so many dead:

The editor of the local newspaper which first reported the story said none of the children had injuries severe enough to threaten their lives.

So would you prefer to have 22 children injured, or 20 children dead?

Guns kill people more than knives. End of story.

[PourpaixPourpaix]

Yeah, I got something to say. Knife attack, 23 injured. Gun attack, 23 dead. No guns, not as awful result. Tend to lack a grasp of the obvious, don't you?

[bigdaddypete]

HAHA, well at least they are finally starting to realize they need to control their population! There need to be more of these going on in China! :)

[pepe33_33]

How you will feel if i tell you, that you need more school shooting in your country.

[melissagstar]

you are sick and need to seek help.

[hong2221]

I see a lot of people disagreeing whether or not to have guns banned. I really don't have a care for whether or not guns should be banned. But it is good to point out the facts. It is common sense to know that guns are much more efficient to kill someone than knives.

We can compare the murder rates of countries without firearms to countries that allows it. Regardless whether or not guns will be banned in the future. As a society we need to work on the security of all public buildings.

[Hippieatheart63]

When are you folks going to realize it's the people and not the instrument of destruction in which they chose to use. The weapon of choice is not the root of the problem. Anyway it's to late in the U.S. to try and control the guns, there are to many out there and all you'd be doing is disarming lawful citizens and leaving the guns in the hands of the criminals and police only. I for one trust neither side for the protection myself or my family. Anyone who would is sadly mistaken.
As far a security in schools, think about this...our police depts around the country are mainly employed by high school graduates trained at local police academies. Our school teachers are college graduates and if properly trained in the use of a firearm, scenario training at their school on what to do during an emergency situations. Even go so far as to have drills with the students similar to fire,tornado, and earthquake drills. Our public schools are victim zones waiting for the animals to victimize. That needs to change.

[PourpaixPourpaix]

Heeeeeee-Heee-Heeeeeee! Heeeeeee-Heee-Heeeeeee!
Yes, let arm that elderly English teacher! First sign of trouble, ole Mrs. Dingleberry could whip out her Glock and put a swift end of any and all trouble. We'll take the gym coach out to the firing range, and 20 minutes later he'll be an expert in gun handling, perfectly capable of any and all law enforcement need! I can't think of a single teacher in my 16 years of school who I'd trust with an unsheathed weapon in a law enforcement role against some armed maniac in body armor shooting up a school.
Heeeeeee-Heee-Heeeeeee! Heeeeeee-Heee-Heeeeeee!

[Dominique06pn]

I highly doubt that there would be as many incidents of violent behaviors if we didn't make weapons so accessable. Further more you have literally no time at all to defend yourself from a gun. People's right to carry arms is infringing on people's right to live...We are not a civilized race if we still must carry weapons....

[NyteFyre222]

In China, a knife wielding man stabbed a teacher and 22 kids. There have had more axe and knife attacks on school children there in the last two years then we have had school shooters here in the United States. Yes, the kids lives, but they have to live with multiple slash wounds across their faces. That combined with the psychological damage would be a fate nearly worse then death.

The ability to defends oneself from tyranny keeps us as a civilized race. You cannot leave it up to the police only.

[Hippieatheart63]

Take away law abiding citizens guns and only the criminals will own them. And who said we lived in a civilized world? Who is suppose to keep the uncivilized at bay? Certainly not you who is living in some facade of their own civilized perfect world that will never exist as long as humanity survives in this world. If weapons weren't "accessible" as you say, do you really think people wouldn't figure out a way to kill anyway. You are so naive.