Nanping school massacre
School stabbing in Nanping, Fujian, China
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The Nanping school massacre (Chinese: 福建南平校园惨案) occurred at Nanping City Experimental Elementary School in the city of Nanping, Fujian Province, China, in which a man used a knife to kill eight children and seriously wound five others.[1] The incident occurred on 23 March 2010, around 7:20 am local time.[2] It was the first incident in a string of school attacks in China. The perpetrator later confessed to the crime, telling police investigators that "life was meaningless".
| Nanping school massacre | |
|---|---|
Nanping's location (in orange) in Fujian Province | |
| Location | Nanping, People's Republic of China |
| Date | 23 March 2010 c. 7:20 am – (UTC+8) |
Attack type | |
| Deaths | 8 |
| Injured | 5 |
| Perpetrator | Zheng Minsheng |
Incident and casualties
The children were attacked outside the gates by a man as they were arriving for school at 7:20 am local time (UTC+8).[3] (Before the attacks, it was the school's practice to keep the gates shut until school began at 7:30 am)[4] The perpetrator was subdued on the scene by three adults.[5] Of the eight fatalities, six died at the scene and the other two later in hospital.[6] The deceased were four boys and four girls.[7]
The school, which at the time had around 2,000 students,[8] closed for the day on 23 March before reopening the following day.[9]
Perpetrator
Zheng Minsheng (30 April 1968[10] – 28 April 2010) who had previously worked as a community doctor, was arrested.[11] The Associated Press reported that, according to a Nanping city government official who refused to be named, Zheng had a history of mental health issues.[12] Zheng later told police that he thought life was meaningless,[7] and confessed to the crime.[13] He was charged with intentional homicide by the province's procuratorate.[14]
At the trial, police stated that Zheng had no history of mental illness, contradicting earlier reports. Zheng said that he committed the attack after being turned down by a girl and suffering "unfair treatment" from the girl's wealthy family. He was found guilty and sentenced to death on 8 April 2010.[15] Zheng was executed by shooting twenty days later.[16]
Victims
The following were victims of the massacre, listed by names in English and Chinese and the grade they were in:[17]
- Ke Cuiting (柯翠婷), grade one
- Chen Chuning (陈楚柠), grade one
- Ouyang Yuhao (欧阳宇豪), grade one
- Huang Shujie (黄舒婕), grade one
- Peng Fei (彭飞), grade two
- Chen Jiahui (陈佳慧), grade three
- Zhou Yuxiao (周雨笑), grade four
- Hou Chuanjie (侯传杰), grade four