2024 Wuxi stabbing

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2024 Wuxi stabbing attack
2024 Wuxi stabbing
Location Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology, Yixing, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
Coordinates 31°20′28″N119°49′43″E / 31.3410°N 119.8287°E / 31.3410; 119.8287
Date16 November 2024
c. 6:30 p.m. (China Standard Time)
TargetFemale students
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 former student stabbed twenty-five people, killing eight, at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in Yixing, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China. [2] He 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 metres of land and has a building area of about 290,000 square metres. [4]

Chinese law requires all vocational college undergraduates to work for a semester or more. [5] During such period, some schools will act as foremen and send students to factories in need of workers, often working long hours for very little salary. [6]

Attack

Around 6:30 p.m. local time, 21-year-old former student Xu Jiajin went on a stabbing spree at the college while classes were ongoing, killing eight and injuring 17 others. [7]

According to media sources, the assailant hid in bushes on campus before entering a female dormitory and stabbing students indiscriminately. [8] 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 dormitories and even sealed their doors with clothing boxes to prevent the murderer from breaking in. [9] [10]

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 playground 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. [11] [12]

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. [13] Some of the injured were sent to the new campus of Yixing People's Hospital  [ zh ]. [7] [14] [15] [16]

Perpetrator

The perpetrator was identified as Xu Jiajin, a 21-year-old recent graduate of the college. [9] [11]

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] [15] [16] [17]

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." [18] [19]

Aftermath

Due to the attack occurring five days after the Zhuhai car ramming, the incident received worldwide media attention. [1] [15] [16] [17] Bouquets of flowers were placed at one entrance of the college but were later removed by security. [20] Chinese authorities censored online discussion of the attack; the only information on the Chinese internet about the attack is the official police report. [21] [22]

Reporters tried to interview the school's principal, but received the response that they were busy. [23] 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. [24]

As of 17 November, the injured victims, aged 18–19, were being treated, and investigations were still underway. [1]

Xu was sentenced to death on 17 December 2024 and was executed on 20 January 2025, the same day as another Chinese mass killer, Fan Weiqiu, who killed 35 people five days before the stabbings. [3]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology</span> Public college in Wuxi, China

Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology is a public full-time general college located in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Eight killed in stabbing attack at vocational college in eastern China". Reuters. 16 November 2024. 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. "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" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 14 December 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  5. ↑ "学生吐槽校企诉苦 职校生实习缘何三方不满". China Youth Network (in Chinese). Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  6. ↑ "56.7%受访者发现职校在学生实习中充当"包工头"". Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese). Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  7. 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.
  8. ↑ Büchenbacher, Katrin (2 December 2024). "What is behind the growing pattern of deadly rampages in China?". NZZ . Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  9. 1 2 "刀手闖無錫工藝職業技術學院 釀8死17傷". Oriental Daily News (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 16 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  10. ↑ "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". HK01 (in Chinese). 17 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  11. 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". Ming Pao (in Chinese). 17 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  12. ↑ "無錫高校無差別斬人案 釀8死17傷 21歲疑兇被當場抓獲". Sing Tao Daily (in Chinese). 16 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  13. ↑ "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". Beijing News (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 16 November 2024. Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  14. ↑ "無錫高校發生斬人事件 多人倒地受傷". Ming Pao (in Chinese). 大皖新聞. 16 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. ↑ "无锡随机斩人︱21岁学生行凶酿8死17伤原因曝光 江苏省委书记：严惩凶手安定人心" [Random killing of people in Wuxi ︱ 21-year-old student's murders, 8 dead and 17 injured, reason revealed. Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee: Punish the murderer severely to calm people's hearts]. Sing Tao Daily (in Chinese). 17 November 2024. Archived from the original on 18 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  19. ↑ "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.
  20. ↑ Goh, Brenda (17 November 2024). "China's 2nd mass attack in a week kills 8, spurs soul-searching". Reuters . Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  21. ↑ Fu, Claire (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.
  22. ↑ "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.
  23. ↑ "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". Phoenix Television (in Chinese). 16 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  24. ↑ "省委召开会议部署宜兴持刀伤人案件处置工作". 江苏省人民政府. 17 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
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