School knife attack kills 4, wounds 5

Alleged attacker said to hold grudge after daughter sent home from class

A knife-wielding man killed three students and a teacher while injuring another five students in a primary school in Shiyan, Central China's Hubei province on Monday.

The suspect, Chen Yanfu, came to Dongfang Primary School in Yunxi county at 10:20 am on Monday, on the first day of a new school year. He then allegedly attacked eight students and a teacher with a fruit knife. After the killing spree, Chen jumped to his death from the fifth floor of the school building.

Of the five injured students, four were receiving emergency treatments while the other was only slightly injured.

"One of the victims' mother tried to commit suicide Monday afternoon by jumping off a building after she learned about her child's death," a source told the Global Times.

Local police identified Chen as a local resident, saying that he had held a grudge against the school after his 10-year-old daughter was expelled for failing to complete her summer vacation homework.

Chen's daughter had previously been ordered to leave primary school for poor performance, according to Nandu Daily.

Chen, 43, lived with his wife, daughter and 68-year-old father. He did not finish high school and worked in a motor factory in Zhejiang Province from 2004 to 2009. He broke his right hand earlier this year and lost the ability to work, sina.com.cn quoted Chen's cousin named Cao Shuming as saying.

"He was an introvert. If he got angry, he [had the potential to] do something outrageous," said Cao.

School attacks have been on the rise in recent years in China, drawing the country's attention and raising concerns about school security and student safety.

On March 23, 2010, a man killed eight children with a knife in front of a school gate in Fujian Province. The suspect was executed one month later.

Meanwhile, a man stabbed 16 students and a teacher at a primary school in Guangdong province on April 28 the same year. The suspect was sentenced to death by a court in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province in June.