Three people were killed and 15 others injured during a stabbing rampage at a Walmart supermarket in Shanghai on Monday night. Chinese police arrested a 37-year-old man, surnamed Lin, at the scene, stating that he had come to Shanghai to “vent his anger due to a personal economic dispute.” The attack occurred in Songjiang, a densely populated district in the city’s southwest, home to several universities. While three victims succumbed to their injuries at the hospital, police confirmed that the remaining injured individuals did not suffer life-threatening wounds.
Eyewitnesses described a chaotic and terrifying scene inside the shopping mall. Shi, a jewelry store owner at the Ludu International Commercial Plaza, said, “There was blood everywhere.” He recounted the moments of panic as SWAT officers and firefighters flooded the mall, urging people to evacuate. “No one had ever experienced something like this, and we weren’t mentally prepared for it,” Shi said, adding that he narrowly escaped the attack.
Following the incident, discussions on Chinese social media appear to have been censored. The Walmart store reopened on Tuesday with heightened security in place.
While firearms are banned in China, the country has seen an increase in knife attacks in recent months. In August, a 10-year-old Japanese student was fatally stabbed near his school in southern China, and earlier this year, several violent stabbing incidents occurred, including an attack on four US college instructors in Jilin and another at a hospital in Yunnan province.
The investigation into Monday’s attack is ongoing.
Melissa Enoch
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