A tragic stabbing incident at a Walmart supermarket in Shanghai on Monday night left three people dead and 15 others injured. Chinese authorities arrested a 37-year-old man, identified as Lin, who allegedly carried out the attack due to personal frustrations stemming from an economic dispute. The incident occurred in the Songjiang district, a populous area in Shanghai’s southwest that also hosts several universities.
The injured victims, though hurt, are not facing life-threatening conditions according to police reports. The three individuals who died succumbed to their injuries after being rushed to the hospital. Eyewitnesses, including a man surnamed Shi who works at a jewelry store in the shopping mall, described scenes of chaos and panic. Shi recounted seeing people fleeing in terror and emergency responders quickly entering the scene. “There was blood everywhere,” Shi told BBC News, adding that he narrowly escaped harm.
Chinese social media discussions regarding the event have been censored, a common practice following such incidents. Despite the tragedy, the supermarket resumed operations on Tuesday with heightened security in place.
Although firearms are strictly regulated in China, there has been an unsettling rise in knife-related attacks across the country. Recent incidents include the stabbing of a 10-year-old Japanese student last month and multiple stabbings of college instructors in Jilin earlier this year.