A Chinese court on Friday gave the death sentenced to a man who injured 16 children and a teacher in a stabbing spree, the third such punishment after a series of school attacks that shocked the nation.
State media also reported a death sentence had been handed to a man who killed eight people — including his wife, daughter and elderly mother — in a knife rampage in Jiangxi Province.
An intermediate court in Guangdong Province sentenced Chen Kangbing (陳康柄) to death for the attack in April at a primary school in the city of Leizhou, Xinhua news agency reported.
The assault was one of a number of school attacks that took place between March and last month and left 17 people — including 15 children — dead and more than 80 injured.
“Chen hacked at the children and teacher in a very cruel manner, causing great harm,” the report quoted the court in the city of Zhanjiang as saying, adding that he was convicted of “murder” even though no one died.
Chen admitted his guilt during the trial, Xinhua said. It was not immediately clear if he would appeal.
Aged in his early 30s, Chen is a schoolteacher who was reportedly on sick leave due to mental health problems. The attacks have prompted emergency measures including stronger school security and stricter monitoring of people known to have mental illnesses, out of fears of copy-cat crimes.
Extra police and security were posted this week outside high schools and road blocks were set up outside test venues as nearly 10 million students took university entrance exams.
Experts say the assaults show China is paying the price for focusing on economic growth while ignoring problems linked to rapid social change.
Studies have cited a rise in the prevalence of mental disorders in China, some of them linked to stress as society becomes more fast-paced and socialist supports wither.
Other than Chen, two school attackers have already been sentenced to death and executed. Two other attackers committed suicide after their crimes.
One assailant who was executed last month, Xu Yuyuan (徐玉元), said at his trial his motive was to vent rage against society after losing money gambling and in business dealings, and suffering setbacks in his personal life.
The unemployed Xu carried out a bloody assault on 32 people, mostly small children, at a kindergarten in Jiangsu province in April.
A former doctor who stabbed to death eight children and injured five others on March 23 in southeast China was also executed last month.
State media also reported on Friday the sentencing to death of 36-year-old Zhou Yezhong (周葉中), who went on a killing spree last month in the coastal province of Jiangxi.
Court spokesman Long Xiaomao said Zhou had gambling problems and began his bloody rampage after a fight with his wife.
At the time of the attack, Xinhua cited witnesses as saying Zhou first killed his 10-year-old daughter and then his mother, aged in her 80s, even though she fell to her knees begging for mercy.
He then rushed to another house where he killed his wife and two neighbors before stabbing two other villagers who were running for help, and a migrant worker.
In related news, a policeman shot dead three civilians and injured a police chief in northern China’s Inner Mongolia region, Xinhua reported.
Police found an elderly couple killed at their home early yesterday morning in Taipusi and later found their daughter dead in a separate flat, Xinhua said.
Police went to arrest the suspect, Wang Fengliang (王鳳亮), a fellow officer who refused to surrender and twice shot and injured a police chief identified only by his surname Hou, Xinhua said. Hou was hospitalized after the shooting.
Wang was eventually taken into custody, said the report, which did not indicate a motive in the alleged killings.
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