Wu Huanming

Overview

Wu Huanming attacked children at the Shengshui Temple Kindergarten in Hanzhong, China, killing seven children and two adults and injuring 11 other children. He was identified as the 48-year-old assailant. After fleeing the school and returning to his house, he committed suicide.

Timeline

• 12 May 2010 — Wu Huanming hacked children to death at the Shengshui Temple Kindergarten in Hanzhong, Shaanxi province; he later returned home and committed suicide.

The offence

Wu Huanming attacked the Shengshui Temple Kindergarten as the school day was beginning, at about 0800 local time (0100 BST). He was armed with a meat cleaver, and later accounts described the weapon as a kitchen cleaver. The victims included seven children and the kindergarten owner and her mother. Five boys and two girls were reported killed. Wu Huanming also injured 11 children and a teacher; two of the injured were in serious condition.

Investigation

Xinhua reported that an initial police investigation suggested that Wu Huanming and Wu Hongying had fought over a property dispute. Wu Hongying had rented rooms for the kindergarten from Wu Huanming without government approval. Wu Huanming had requested the house be vacated when the lease ran out, while Wu Hongying said she would wait until the vacation in June or July.

Police sealed off the kindergarten and deployed police officers there, and police remained investigating the circumstances of the case.

Arrest

No arrest was recorded. Wu Huanming fled from the school and returned to his house, where he committed suicide.

Deaths and injuries

The attack resulted in 10 deaths and 11 injuries.

People

• Wu Huanming (48-year-old local man) — assailant who killed seven children and two adults and injured 11 children before committing suicide.
• Wu Hongying — kindergarten owner; reported killed in the attack (described as 50-year-old in one account).
• Su Runhua — Wu Hongying’s mother, 80-year-old; was injured in the attack and later died in hospital.

A teacher was also reported injured, along with 11 children, with two in serious condition. Zhao Leji, Communist Party of China chief of Shaanxi, ordered local authorities to do all they could to save the injured and strengthen school security in the province. A local public official, Liu Xiaoming, said the attacker killed himself shortly after returning to his home. Another local man, Zheng Xiulan, said: “I don't know how many died in the end. There was blood everywhere.”

Other details

About 20 children attended the kindergarten. The ministries of public security and education held an emergency nationwide teleconference to order local departments to upgrade security after the attack. Security in privately-run schools and kindergartens, and in remote areas and rural regions, was to be scrutinized, with police conducting security sweeps in schools and other public facilities where children gathered. Police forces at all levels were to step up measures to deter attacks on children. State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu said local police forces should cooperate with education authorities to more rigorously search for security risks around kindergartens and schools, work closely with other community security organizations, improve psychological counseling for anti-social and paranoid individuals, and talk more with the public to help resolve disputes and problems so as to reduce social conflict.

The tragedy was described as the fifth attack on children in less than two months in China. Authorities in many cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Jinan, Lanzhou and Wuxi, deployed more police and security guards near and at schools to prevent attacks. In Beijing, about 500 kindergartens, primary and high schools hired more than 2,000 professional security guards to beef up security, and it was said Beijing needed several thousands more security guards for its remaining 4,500 kindergartens, primary and high schools.