SCHOOL ATTACK: Man armed with knife stabs 22 students in China

Beijing students leave their elementary school at the end of classes in this March 13, 2012 file photo. At the Chenpeng village primary school in Xinyang in Henan province, a man is suspected of stabbing one elderly woman and 22 children. Mark Ralson/AFP/Getty Images

Beijing, Dec 14 (IANS) A mentally ill villager armed with a knife Friday stabbed an 85-year-old woman and 22 school children at the gate of a primary school in China, officials said.

The attack took place around 7.40 a.m. near the Chenpeng village primary school in Xinyang in Henan province, police told Xinhua.

All the injured were sent to hospital, where one student and the woman were reported to be in serious condition.

Police said the suspect was a 36-year-old villager named Min Yingjun.

Around 7 a.m. Friday, Min burst into the 85-year-old woman’s house near the school, and an argument ensued. The man then seized a knife and attacked the woman. He then left, rushed to the school and attacked the students.

The suspect was not known in the area and was probably mentally ill, villagers told Xinhua.

The woman and most of the students suffered head injuries. Many of them were in shock, hospital officials said.