Wave of mass murders in China raises questions about the country’s mental health | World News

In China, a country that prides itself on public safety, a series of violent attacks, including the deadliest mass shooting in a decade, has triggered an online debate about the country’s mental health.

The biggest mass attacks in recent years in China

May 22, 2014 – Urumqi, Xinjiang region – Four men drove two SUVs into a crowd of shoppers at a busy market and threw explosives out the car windows, killing themselves and 39 others.

30 September – 1 October 2015 – Liuzhou, Southern China – A 33-year-old man killed 10 people and injured 51 others in a series of bombings during a water festival. Police said the suspect died in one of the bombings. He sent more than a dozen bomb packages to places such as shopping malls, hospitals and government buildings.

January 5, 2016 – Yinchuan, northwestern China – 17 people died and 32 people were injured as a result of a man carrying out an arson attack on a bus.

September 12, 2018 – Hengyang, Southern China – A man crashed his car into the crowd in the square and attacked the people at the scene with a folding shovel and a dagger, killing 11 people and injuring 44 people. According to police, the suspect had multiple convictions for drug trafficking and theft. and harming others led to a “desire for revenge against society.”

July 7, 2020 – Anshun, southwestern China – A 52-year-old man drove a bus into a lake, 21 people died and 15 people were injured. According to the police, the bus driver was unhappy with his life and was angry about the demolition of the public housing he rented.

January 11, 2023 – Guangzhou, Southern China – A 22-year-old man crashed his car into a crowd in a business district, killing five people and injuring 13. According to the court, the suspect had large debts and committed the crime to “reveal his personal feelings”.

June 11, 2024 – Jilin, northeastern China – A 55-year-old local man injured four American instructors from a small Iowa university in a public park. It took authorities more than 24 hours to announce the attack, and Chinese social media was scrubbed of images of the attack.

June 24, 2024 – Suzhou, eastern China – An unemployed man in his 50s injured three people in a knife attack on a Japanese school bus. A Japanese child and her mother were injured, and a Chinese employee who tried to protect the students died. State media and major social media platforms condemned “extreme nationalism” following the attack.

September 18, 2024 – Shenzhen, Southern China – A 10-year-old Japanese student was fatally stabbed by a 44-year-old unemployed man on his way to school. The attack took place on the anniversary of an event that triggered war between China and Japan in 1931.

September 30, 2024 – Shanghai, eastern China – A 37-year-old man killed 3 people and injured 15 people in a knife attack in a suburban supermarket. According to the police’s initial investigation, the suspect went to Shanghai to vent his anger following a personal financial dispute.

8 October 2024 – GuangzhouSouth ChineseA 60-year-old man staged a knife attack in front of a primary school in the city’s central district. 3 people, including 2 primary school students, were injured in the accident. The suspect was previously convicted of attempted murder for stabbing his ex-girlfriend and was released from prison in March after serving his sentence.

October 28, 2024 – Beijing – A 50-year-old man injured five people, including three children, in a knife attack near one of the city’s best primary schools in the Haidian district during school holidays.

November 11, 2024 – Zhuhai, Southern China – A 62-year-old man drove his car into a crowd at a sports center, killing 35 people and seriously injuring 43 people. Police said he was upset about the division of assets in the divorce settlement.

November 16, 2024 – Wuxi, eastern China – Police said that a former student attacked a vocational school with a knife, eight people died and 17 people were injured. They said he was angry about not getting his graduation certificate and failing the exam.