Authorities in China said a man with a knife killed seven middle school children Friday at a school in the country’s north.
Officials said the 28-year-old attacker, who was a former student at the school, attacked the children as they were leaving the Mizhi County No. 3 Middle School in Shaanxi province.
They said 12 other students were injured and were receiving care at a nearby hospital. Officials did not give the ages of the victims, but middle school students in China are typically between 12 and 15 years old.
Officials said the suspect had been arrested.
China’s public security bureau said the alleged attacker was bullied when he attended the same school as a child and held a grudge.
China tightly restricts private gun ownership, making knives and explosives the most common weapons for criminals.
Knife attacks have made headlines in China in recent years, including an attack in February in which a knife-wielding man killed a woman and injured 12 others at a Beijing shopping center.
Similar attacks have also targeted schoolchildren in the past, including several stabbings in recent years.
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