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6 people are dead after a stabbing at a Chinese kindergarten

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

A tragedy in China. A man there attacked a kindergarten, killing a teacher, two parents and three children. Police say the attacker is in custody, but they haven't released a motive yet for the killings. Here's NPR's Emily Feng.

EMILY FENG, BYLINE: Here's what we know so far. About mid-morning in the southern Chinese city of Lianjiang, a 25-year-old man walked into a kindergarten and started stabbing anyone he could see, according to a local news report.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).

FENG: This video of the kindergarten where the attack happened shows two bodies, that of an adult and a child, lying near the school entrance.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Non-English language spoken).

FENG: Social media footage shows the man being pushed into a waiting police car. Police so far have not said why the man targeted children or this particular kindergarten. Authorities have started censoring posts and some articles on the attack within hours. Such incidents like these are sensitive news in China. And that's because, as horrific as the attacks are, they are not unusual. The list is long, but here are a few of them.

In 2010, a man killed nine people in a kindergarten in northwestern China. Seven years later, another man wounded 11 children in another kindergarten. Over the last five years, there have been four more deadly attacks on kindergartens and primary schools, mostly perpetuated by people police say had recently experienced huge personal setbacks, and in at least one case, wanted to, quote, "take revenge on society." The weapon of choice in nearly all these cases has been a knife because China, like all East Asian countries, strictly bans private gun use or ownership.

Emily Feng, NPR News, Taipei. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Emily Feng is NPR's Beijing correspondent.