On May 23rd, a homicide occurred in Xiaochang County, Hubei Province, which resulted in the death of 8 people and injuries to 1 person. Local villagers indicated that the perpetrator was a mentally disturbed individual who had not exhibited violent behavior prior to this recent incident. Most of the victims were middle-aged and elderly individuals, including the perpetrator’s mother who was in her 80s. The area has been placed under strict control, sparking concerns among netizens that authorities are attempting to suppress information.
Late in the night of the 23rd, according to reports from multiple sources, a violent incident took place in Xiaochang’s Xiaowu Township, Hubei Province, resulting in casualties.
Reports have identified the village where the incident occurred as Qiaowan Village in Xiaowu Township. A female villager disclosed that the incident occurred around 8 or 9 o’clock in the morning on the 23rd, and the suspect is believed to be in his forties or fifties.
Several villagers stated that the suspect suffers from a mental illness, and multiple individuals were killed or injured in the violent attack, including the suspect’s mother.
One villager mentioned hearing that the suspect had been acting “a bit abnormal” in the past couple of days.
Furthermore, villagers reported that after the incident, Qiaowan Village was strictly controlled, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving the area.
Netizens raised concerns about the authorities’ restrictive measures in the region. “Do they only know how to cover up when something happens??,” one comment read. “It’s understandable to restrict criminals, but limiting the movements of ordinary people is not. Please report the number of casualties as minimally as possible.” “Why are no outsiders allowed in or out of the village? What does that mean? Is it to block information?”
On May 24th, CCTV News reported that on the morning of May 23rd around 9 a.m., a mentally disturbed individual in Xiaowu Township engaged in a knife-wielding attack that resulted in 8 deaths and 1 injury. The 53-year-old suspect, Lu, who has been arrested, has been preliminarily diagnosed as a Level-3 mental disorder patient.
According to reports by Red Star News on the 24th, the suspect is a middle-aged man from Group 6 of Qiaowan Village in Xiaowu Township. Among the deceased was the suspect’s mother who was in her 80s, with most of the victims being middle-aged and elderly individuals.
Multiple local villagers also mentioned that although the suspect has a history of mental illness and has been on medication for a long time to manage it, “there had been no clear signs of a tendency towards violence or harming others prior to this.”
A relative of the suspect stated that he was born in 1971, his wife passed away many years ago, and his son is in his teens. He had been living with his elderly parents for a long time, and at the time of the incident, his father was working outside, narrowly escaping being harmed.
In recent months, there have been frequent occurrences of violent incidents in various parts of mainland China.
On the evening of May 20th, a violent incident took place in a park in the Suxian District of Chenzhou, Hunan Province. Authorities reported 3 deaths and 2 injuries. However, online sources indicate that the perpetrator injured more than ten individuals.
Similarly, on the same day, a stabbing incident occurred at a primary school in Guixi, Yingtang, Jiangxi, where a woman wielding a knife attacked multiple students. There are reports suggesting the assailant was a relative of a teacher at the school, and authorities confirmed at least 2 deaths and 10 injuries.
On May 7th, in Fuyang, Anhui, Dong murdered Fei due to a dispute over their fruit business, stuffing Fei’s body into a box mixed with cement and throwing it into a nearby river.
On May 9th, a murder case unfolded in Baiquan Town, Dushan County, Guizhou. A man, intoxicated, had a quarrel with his family members and fatally stabbed 2 people while injuring 3 others, including his father among the deceased.