BEIJING (AP) — A suspect has been detained in China after a knife attack at a school bus stop that injured three people, including a Japanese woman and her child, a spokesperson for the Japanese Embassy confirmed Tuesday.
A man stabbed the woman and her child at a bus stop for a Japanese school, and then seriously injured a Chinese woman on the bus who tried to block him when he tried to get on, the spokesperson said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of embassy policy.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the man was arrested at the scene after the Monday afternoon attack in Suzhou, a tech center and historic canal city outside Shanghai.
“It is a regrettable incident,” she said. “China will continue to take effective measures to earnestly protect the safety of all foreigners in China.”
The motive for the attack was unclear, the Japanese Embassy spokesperson said. An investigation is ongoing.
The Chinese woman was being treated at a hospital, Mao said. The injuries to the Japanese mother and child were not serious.
In an email sent to Japanese nationals living in China, the Japanese Embassy warned them to take precautions as stabbing incidents have occurred in various parts of China in public places including parks, schools and subways.
Earlier this month, a Chinese man stabbed four U.S. university instructors at a public park in Jilin in the northeast, as well as a Chinese person who tried to intervene. The four instructors from Cornell College were teaching at Beihua University. None were in critical condition.
Police believe the two attacks on foreigners were isolated incidents, Mao said.
In May, a knife attack at a hospital in southwestern China killed two people and injured 21 others.
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