Dozens of mass attacks have killed China in recent months

BEIJING – Dozens of people have been killed in a series of mass attacks in China over the past three months. On Tuesday, primary school students were injured by a car as they arrived for classes.

Attacks take one of two forms – either drivers mowing down pedestrians, or attackers with knives stabbing multiple victims. In China, gun ownership is severely restricted and gun attacks are rare.

Police reports show that the attackers vent their anger and frustration on personal matters. The victims are often unknown to them.

Such attacks are nothing new in China and have targeted kindergartens and other schools in the past. The recent surge in interest has attracted the attention of authorities and the public. Here’s a look at some recent developments.

November 19: A vehicle hits students at the primary school gate

A small white SUV hit students arriving for classes at Yong’an Elementary School in Changde, an inland city in China’s Hunan province. The official Xinhua news agency reported that several adults were also injured. Authorities said the injuries were not life-threatening.

Xinhua reported that security guards and parents overpowered the driver. Authorities later issued a short statement saying the 39-year-old driver had been arrested. Few details of the incident have been confirmed yet.

November 16: Stabbing kills 8 people at vocational school

Eight people were killed and 17 others injured in a stabbing attack at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Art and Technology in the city of Yixing, about 100 miles west of Shanghai in eastern China.

The police detained a 21-year-old student. They said he had failed his exams and was unable to complete his studies, and was also unhappy with his internship pay. A police statement shows that he decided to vent his frustration during the attack.

November 11: Driver kills 35 people at sports complex

A man who authorities said was upset over a divorce settlement drove his car into a crowd of people exercising at a sports complex in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, killing 35 people and injuring 43 others.

Police detained a 62-year-old man who they said was in a car and tried to stab himself with a knife. He later lost consciousness due to his neck and other wounds. They said the man was unhappy with the division of financial assets in the divorce.

October 28: Five people were injured in a knife attack near an elementary school

Five people, including three children, were injured in a knife attack near a prominent primary school in Beijing. The police detained a 50-year-old suspect. No motive was given.

In early October, a 10-year-old Japanese student died after he was stabbed near his school in Shenzhen, a southern city bordering Hong Kong. It came after a stabbing attack in June on a Japanese woman and her child at a bus stop on their way to a Japanese school in Suzhou, a city near Shanghai.

September 30: A knife attack kills 3 people in a supermarket

A 37-year-old man allegedly killed three people and stabbed 15 others at a supermarket in Shanghai. Police said the man had personal financial disputes and came to Shanghai to “release his anger.”

The attack occurred on the eve of a week-long national holiday in a suburban district of Shanghai, China’s financial center.