11 wounded in central China knife attack, suspect in police custody

BEIJING: A man with a history of mental illness wounded 11 people with a knife after attacking random pedestrians in central China, local authorities said yesterday.

The suspect, a 33-year- old man named Guo Kaibin, is already in police custody, according to a social media notice posted by police in Ji’an, a city in central Jiangxi province.

Citing Guo’s family, local authorities said that the attacker had a history of mental illness.

While none of the injuries were life-threatening, those attacked included auxiliary police and students. Victims were receiving medical treatment and an investigation was underway, said local police.

Knife attacks are not uncommon in China, which heavily restricts access to firearms.

Earlier this month a man who suspected his wife of committing adultery stabbed eight people to death and injured seven others in a village in the northwest province of Gansu.

Last August six people were killed after a man went on a rampage in southern China, stabbing his girlfriend and her relatives before ramming a car into pedestrians and attacking passers-by.

And in February a knifewielding man motivated by personal grievances killed a woman and injured 12 others in a busy Beijing shopping mall -- a rare act of violence in the heavily policed capital.

Attacks have also targeted schoolchildren in the past, forcing authorities to increase security around schools.

In April, a knife-wielding man killed nine middle school children and injured at least 10 others in northern China. — AFP