The brutal killing of at least three children and a teacher at a school in northeastern China had residents confounded and authorities tight-lipped Wednesday.
A man identified by state media as Fang Jiantang, 26, reportedly attacked kindergarten students and teachers with a knife Tuesday in a suburb of Zibo, killing four and injuring 20 staff and children. A 2-foot-long knife believed to be the weapon used in the attack was recovered. No motive has been established. Teachers suffered deep gashes to their heads and shoulders, witnesses said. The wounded teachers were reportedly attempting to protect the children.
Some said that the injured students looked as if their skulls had been hacked open and that other children had hidden under desks to escape the assailant. The attack was the seventh rampage in China since March. Almost all the cases involved middle-aged men targeting young children with household tools such as knives, axes, hammers and, in one instance, gasoline.
The Zibo killings were not the deadliest but raised new concerns that the government was not making enough effort to stop the attacks.
In recent months, security has increased at schools. After the first spate of attacks, local authorities armed teachers with pepper spray and asked that they be instructed in self-defense. National authorities got involved when the violence continued, issuing mandates for schools to hire police officers and sending out armed troops to escort children to school.
