On the evening of November 16th, a major campus tragedy occurred at a vocational and technical college in Yixing, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, resulting in at least 8 deaths and 17 injuries. There are widespread doubts online about the police notification, as many students from the school revealed that the number of casualties is higher than reported by the authorities. The incident involved a group of 4 individuals, with two suspects still on the run.
The Yixing Public Security Bureau announced that around 6:30 pm on November 16th, a knife attack took place at the Yixing Wuxi Vocational and Technical College, leading to 8 deaths and 17 injuries. The suspect, a 21-year-old male named Xu, was apprehended at the scene.
According to the announcement, Xu, a 2024 graduate, committed the violent act after failing exams, not receiving his diploma, and being dissatisfied with his internship payment.
Students of the school questioned the police report online, believing that there was more than one perpetrator in this campus tragedy. They argued that the school campus is vast, and the crime scenes were scattered, making it impossible for one person to cause such extensive casualties.
One student, Wang Hua (alias), confirmed, “All internal students know that it was a group (of perpetrators), one person couldn’t have simultaneously committed violence in the bathroom, at the delivery station, and at the dormitory entrance.”
He added, “This morning, another body was found at the dormitory entrance, killed in the early hours, indicating there is more than one assailant.”
Wang Hua explained the difficulty in preventing the tragedy, “How could we prevent it? We were all unarmed, and he was hiding in the bushes, attacking individuals who were alone, not in groups.” He highlighted the challenge of lack of visibility during the dark early morning hours.
There were reports of several students trying to intervene and getting injured in the process, such as having fingers severed or arms wounded.
Additionally, discussions on local platforms revealed more casualties than reported, with injured individuals being transported to hospitals further away due to overwhelming numbers.
The majority of the victims were female, and a friend of one deceased individual disclosed that their friend succumbed to injuries in the intensive care unit.
The ripple of the tragedy extended to other areas, with incidents reported in Changzhou and Suzhou, prompting heightened security measures at schools.
The suspect’s classmates from high school described him as a previously honest person who broke down due to work-related stress and unresolved grievances. They confirmed that it was a group effort by frustrated classmates.
Online discussions uncovered longstanding issues within the school system, highlighting forced internships, poor treatment at affiliated factories, and difficulties in obtaining graduation certificates.
The manifesto left by the suspect, Xu, shed light on his struggles with exploitative working conditions and the school’s failure to provide proper support, which he saw as a catalyst for his actions.
The incident sparked debate on social media about understanding the root causes of such tragic events to prevent future occurrences, with a call for a collective societal introspection.
As other retaliatory incidents emerged in different regions, there is growing concern about the underlying societal issues leading to such violent outbursts.