2024 Wuxi stabbing

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2024 Wuxi stabbing
Location 31°20′28″N119°49′43″E / 31.3410°N 119.8287°E / 31.3410; 119.8287
Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology, Yixing, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
Date16 November 2024;13 months ago (2024-11-16)
c. 6:30 p.m. – c. 7:10 p.m. (China Standard Time)
TargetStudents
Attack type
 Mass stabbing
Weapons Knife [1]
Deaths8
Injured17
PerpetratorXu Jiajin
Motive
  • Being owed wages by his employer factory
  • Anger over not receiving graduation certificate

On 16 November 2024, a mass stabbing took place at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in Yixing, China. [2] Eight people were killed, and 17 others were injured. The perpetrator, former student Xu Jiajin, was executed two months later. [3]

Contents

Background

The Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology is a full-time public general professional college located in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. According to the college profile, it occupies nearly 1,000 square meters of land and has a building area of about 290,000 square meters. [4]

Chinese law requires all vocational college undergraduates to work for a semester or more. [5] During such a period, some schools will act as foremen and send students to factories in need of workers. [6] Student workers in this industry receive a lower hourly wage of 16 yuan, compared to the 24 yuan salary of regular part-time workers. [7]

Incident

The attack took place at the on-campus dormitory area behind the main building. Over the course of less than an hour, several stabbings were reported between the campus west gate and the dormitory buildings. [8]

The attack began at the western campus entrance, which was continued at the nearby entrance of the campus library. Two more stabbings occurred inside the ground floor bathroom of No. 11 male dormitory and the ground floor of No. 12 male dormitory. [8] According to media sources, the assailant then hid in bushes before entering female dormitories No. 7 to 9 and stabbing students indiscriminately. [8] [9] Pictures of the scene showed victims on the ground with blood on their clothes. Some students said that their roommates were stabbed and told others not to go out. Many students hid in their rooms and barricaded their doors with bookshelves to prevent the murderer from breaking in. [10] [11] [12]

Several police cars and ambulances were parked outside the college, and police officers entered with shields in hand. The assailant confronted the police at the college sports field with knives, and they pointed flashlights at the assailant. A police officer subdued him while he was on his side, as several male students also came forward to help. [13] [14]

At around 11:30 p.m. that night, the Yixing City Public Security Bureau reported that the assailant had been arrested on the spot and admitted to the crime. [15] Some of the injured were sent to the new campus of Yixing People's Hospital  [ zh ]. [16] [17] [18] [19]

Victims

25 people were stabbed in total. Eight of the victims, two men and six women [8] aged 18 to 19, [1] died of their injuries. [16] The remains of the deceased, all of whom were from outside of Yixing, were repatriated to their hometowns for burial by 21 November 2024. [8]

Perpetrator

The perpetrator was identified as Xu Jiajin (Chinese : 徐加金), a 21-year-old recent graduate of the college. [10] [13]

Motive

According to police, the perpetrator was a 2024 graduate of the college and had failed his exams. He allegedly confessed "without hesitation" to committing the attack due to anger over not receiving his graduation certificate, poor exam results, and "dissatisfaction with internship compensation". [1] [18] [19] [20]

An alleged suicide note of the perpetrator circulating on social media included the statement that he was owed wages by a factory he was working at and that the college had withheld his diploma, preventing him from graduating. It also included statements such as "I hope that my death will lead to the advancement of labor laws" and "long live the proletariat". [14] [21]

Aftermath

Due to the attack occurring five days after the Zhuhai car ramming, the incident received worldwide media attention. [1] [18] [19] [20] Bouquets of flowers were placed at one entrance of the college but were later removed by security. [1] Chinese authorities censored online discussion of the attack; the only information on the Chinese internet about the attack is the official police report. [22] [23]

Reporters tried to interview the school's principal but received the response that they were busy. [24] The Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, led by Xin Changxing, held a meeting and later issued a notice that police forces must pay high attention to the incident and that surveillance in crowded areas must be strengthened. [25]

Xu was sentenced to death on 17 December 2024 and was executed on 20 January 2025, the same day as Fan Weiqiu, who committed the aforementioned Zhuhai car attack. [3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Goh, Brenda (16 November 2024). "Eight killed in stabbing attack at vocational college in eastern China". Reuters . Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  2. ↑ Jiang, Steven (16 November 2024). "Eight killed and 17 injured in mass stabbing in eastern China". CNN. Archived from the original on 17 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  3. 1 2 Ng, Kelly (20 January 2025). "China executes two men over deadly attacks in same week". BBC. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  4. ↑ "无锡工艺职业技术学院简介" [Introduction to Wuxi Vocational and Technical College of Arts and Crafts] (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 14 December 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  5. ↑ Wei, Linfu. "学生吐槽校企诉苦 职校生实习缘何三方不满" [Students complain about the suffering of schools and enterprises, and why vocational school students are dissatisfied with their internships]. China Youth Network (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  6. ↑ Gu, Yue. "56.7%受访者发现职校在学生实习中充当"包工头"" [56.7% of the respondents found that vocational schools acted as "contract foremen" in student internships]. Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese). Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  7. ↑ Xu, Qian (18 November 2024). "江蘇高校血案8死17傷 網民揭背後藏學生被賣豬仔剝削事件" [Jiangsu university murder case kills 8 and injures 17. Netizens reveal the behind-the-scenes exploitation of Tibetan students by selling piglets]. HK01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "【404文库】水瓶纪元｜拼图无锡职校凶犯：学生工，多头借贷者，"宅左"与"浪人"" [【404 Library 】Aquarius Era｜ Jigsaw Puzzle Wuxi Vocational School Murderer: Student Worker, Multi-Head Borrower, "Otaku" and "Ronin"]. China Digital Times (in Simplified Chinese). 1 February 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  9. ↑ Büchenbacher, Katrin (2 December 2024). "What is behind the growing pattern of deadly rampages in China?". Neue Zürcher Zeitung. NZZ . Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  10. 1 2 "刀手闖無錫工藝職業技術學院 釀8死17傷" [Knife hands broke into Wuxi Vocational and Technical College of Crafts, killing 8 people and injuring 17 others]. Oriental Daily News (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 16 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  11. ↑ Ling, Yide (17 November 2024). "江苏21岁男无差别砍死8人17伤 凶手无法毕业实习低薪见人就捅" [A 21-year-old man in Jiangsu killed 8 people and injured 17 people indiscriminately. The murderer was unable to graduate as an intern with a low salary and stabbed him at the sight of others]. HK01 (in Chinese). Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  12. ↑ "无锡随机斩人 学生书柜顶宿舍房大门避劫 凶手被制伏画面曝光" [Wuxi randomly slashes student, bookcase-roofed dormitory door to avoid robbery; killer subdued]. China Press (in Chinese). 17 November 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  13. 1 2 "畢業生回校斬人 無錫高校8死17傷 供稱實習遭工廠拖糧 校方不發畢業證" [Graduates returned to school and beheaded 8 people. Wuxi University died and 17 were injured. It was reported that the internship was delayed by the factory and the school did not issue graduation certificates]. Ming Pao (in Chinese). 17 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  14. 1 2 "無錫高校無差別斬人案 釀8死17傷 21歲疑兇被當場抓獲" [Wuxi randomly beheaded ︱ 21-year-old student's murder resulted in 8 deaths and 17 injuries. Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee Secretary: Strictly punish the murderer to calm people's hearts]. Sing Tao Daily (in Chinese). 16 November 2024. Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  15. ↑ Jia, Congcong (16 November 2024). "宜兴无锡工艺职业技术学院发生持刀伤人案件致8死17伤" [A knife attack occurred at Wuxi Polytechnic in Yixing, resulting in 8 deaths and 17 injuries]. Beijing News (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  16. 1 2 Guo, Peter (16 November 2024). "Eight killed in stabbing attack at vocational college in eastern China". NBC News. Archived from the original on 16 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  17. ↑ "無錫高校發生斬人事件 多人倒地受傷" [A beheading incident occurred at a Wuxi university. Many people fell to the ground and were injured]. Ming Pao (in Chinese). 大皖新聞. 16 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  18. 1 2 3 "8 dead, 17 hurt in China school knife attack". Voice of America. 16 November 2024. Archived from the original on 16 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  19. 1 2 3 "Eight dead after stabbing at school in eastern China". BBC. 16 November 2024. Archived from the original on 16 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  20. 1 2 "Acht doden bij steekpartij in Chinese stad Wuxi" [Eight dead in stabbing attack in Chinese city of Wuxi] (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 16 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  21. ↑ "学院生返校砍人8死17伤 网传疑似嫌犯讯息：所有人都在欺负我" [A college student back to school stabbing 8 dead and 17 injured, online suspect message: everyone is bullying me]. Sin Chew Daily (in Chinese). 17 November 2024. Archived from the original on 17 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  22. ↑ Fu, Claire; Yuhas, Alan (16 November 2024). "China Hit Again With Fatal Violence as at Least 8 Die in Stabbing". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 19 November 2024. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  23. ↑ "Knife attack at a vocational school in eastern China leaves 8 dead and 17 injured". Associated Press . 16 November 2024. Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  24. ↑ Li, Wenting (16 November 2024). "无锡一高校有人持刀伤人，伤者送医救治，警方已控制伤人者" [Someone stabbed someone at a university in Jiangsu, police respond]. Phoenix Television (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 16 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  25. ↑ "省委召开会议部署宜兴持刀伤人案件处置工作" [The Provincial Party Committee held a meeting to deploy the handling of stabbing cases in Yixing]. 江苏省人民政府. 17 November 2024. Archived from the original on 17 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
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