China says police will fire on school attackers

[ray245]

LINCHANG, China – China said Friday that its police will open fire on any future school attackers "without mercy" after the deadliest in a string of recent assaults killed seven preschoolers and two adults this week.

"If criminals dare to do this kind of thing again, we will act according to criminal law and firearms regulations, and without mercy. Because being tolerant of this kind of crazy criminal behavior is a crime and is irresponsible to millions of people," a spokesman for the public security ministry, Wu Heping, told a news briefing.

The attacker who barged into a kindergarten in northern China with a cleaver Wednesday morning had been depressed and psychotic and had attempted suicide at least twice in the weeks before the rampage, local police said.

Meanwhile, in the communist leadership's first comment on a wave of similar school attacks, Premier Wen Jiabao said there was a need to seek the underlying causes in addition to toughening up safety measures.

"We are making serious efforts in tackling social tensions, settling disputes and improving local governments' ability to smooth things out," Wen told Hong Kong's Phoenix TV late Thursday.

Eleven children injured in the attack remained hospitalized Friday in the northwestern city of Hanzhong. The attacker, 48-year-old Wu Huanming, killed himself after returning home after the Wednesday morning mayhem in the farming village of Linchang on Hanzhong's outskirts.

Speculation on the motive for the attack has centered on a spiraling dispute between Wu Huanming and the school's administrator, Wu Hongying, to whom Wu Huanming had leased the school.

In addition, Wu had shown signs of depression and psychosis for some time as a result of worsening illnesses, including diabetes and an inflamed prostate, Li Zhenfeng, a deputy Hanzhong police chief, told reporters Thursday.

Wu attempted suicide twice last month and repeatedly told family members of his intention to kill himself, Li said. Wu also believed Wu Hongying had cast a spell on him preventing his recovery, he said.

"With these factors combined, Wu Huanming decided to take his revenge against others and commit suicide, and he directed his hatred toward Wu Hongying," Li told a news conference.

As in other recent school assaults, Wednesday morning's attack came with no warning.

Villagers heard screams coming from a preschool run out of Wu Huanming's two-story farmhouse, then heard Wu shout: "They owed me rent!"

Police and rescue officials who rushed to the scene found more than a dozen dead or injured students, the school's administrator nearly decapitated, and her 80-year-old mother barely clinging to life. Wu was in his home nearby, dead after apparently slashing his own throat.

Neighbors described Wu as quiet and unremarkable and were struggling to understand how a simple property dispute, the type of which is common in nearly every county in China, had sparked the murderous rampage. Wu had complained that rent wasn't being paid and demanded his property back. Wu Hongying had wanted to keep the school running until summer vacation.

Wu Huanming "was very honest and didn't talk much," said Zhen Xiulan, 71, who lives a short walk away from the school and had known Wu all his life.

"He had a very soft and gentle personality and didn't have mental problems that we knew of. None of us would ever have imagined he would do something so terrible," Zhen said.

The case prompted leaders to again call for increased school security following four previous attacks in less than two months, of which the latest was also the deadliest.

All the attackers in recent cases have been men in their 30s or 40s, most of them out of work. Knives and hammers are the preferred weapons — guns are tightly controlled in China and obtaining them is virtually impossible.

Sociologists say the recent attacks that have left 17 dead and scores wounded reflect the tragic consequences of ignoring mental illness and rising stress resulting from huge social inequalities in China's fast-changing society.

Yahoo! News

[Korvan]

If criminals dare to do this kind of thing again, we will act according to criminal law and firearms regulations, and without mercy. Because being tolerant of this kind of crazy criminal behavior is a crime and is irresponsible to millions of people.

This statement seems a bit odd. So up to this point, the police would just stand by and watch as kids were attacked without opening fire? I'm pretty sure had any police been present at any of the attacks, they probably would've used lethal force to stop the attacker. Maybe it's just a bad translation and he's taking about increasing police presence at schools.

[Highlord Laan]

I think it's more along the lines of the cops being willing -and ordered- to at least try and make an arrest. Now they've been ordered to take the gloves off and settle for sentencing the perpetrators posthumously.

[ShadowDragon8685]

That's how I read it. They're stating that no longer are the PRC's police in any way obligated to try and make an arrest or detain or anything - if someone attacks at school, they're under orders to shoot on sight and shoot to kill.

[KlavoHunter]

Fair enough, to be quite honest - if some maniac goes nuts at a school, would you rather the police mow him down, or that he keeps on slashing babies for even a fraction of a second more? I'm not entirely certain a fully reasoned response is required here; just sheer retaliation to bring an end to this horror as fast as possible. No matter how disturbed the individual, what right do they have to end the lives of children? It's horrifying; and, hell, if I accidentally hit a kid while driving my car in America, suicide is actually amongst my first, considered responses, due to the sheer backlash against it. Someone who does so for whatever reason intentionally is a monster.

It's not a very nuanced or reasoned rule, but in a nation of over a billion, and suffering already from despicable copycats, can they truly be blamed for wanting such a harsh reaction when it comes to 'Their Children'? Especially when China is feeling a dramatic change, from the nation that spawned hundreds of millions of babies, to that which advocates the one-child policy? These people who go on child-murdering attacks offer the most terrifying attacks of all - Some 9/11 plane-hijacker who slams a hundred-thousand pound craft full of airliner fuel into a huge office building isn't directing such an attack against THE FUTURE, the way these people are. Each murder smashes the dreams of two people who only wanted to produce a happy child.

Apologies, I've been drinking. I have no idea how the Chinese really think, but I can only guess in the ways that are most human of all, little as I've truly experienced them.

[Oskuro]

On one hand, the gut reaction (read: Internet Tough Guy) is to have those maniacs shot at, beaten, and dragged behind a truck.

On the other hand, not sure how comfortable I'd be with cops opening fire inside a school. You know, with kids still running around.

My guess is that this is mostly meant to scare would-be copycats who think they'll get their 15 minutes of fame and a prison sentence.

[Ethereal235]

There are two purposes to law enforcement; one is to detain those who pose a threat to society as free men. The other is to deter criminal activity by offering punishment. Making it clear that acts like these constitute the forfeiting of your own life falls into the second category.

Not sure how effective it'll be. It seems that they missed the fact that the man killed himself before authorities were on scene. Spree killers in general intend to die, don't they?

[Edward Yee]

This for some reason sounds like Chinese law enforcement and the PRC popular culture awakening to the concept of "active knifer response," akin to "active shooter response" becoming a recognized concept in law enforcement after Columbine.

[Night_stalker]

Still not really seeing a problem with this announcement. Yes, there is a chance of collateral damage, but really if you attack a school, then don't expect a warm reception by either the cops or the prisoners in the jail where your badly beaten body will be thrown in so they can finish the job properly.

[Edward Yee]

Still not really seeing a problem with this announcement. Yes, there is a chance of collateral damage, but really if you attack a school, then don't expect a warm reception by either the cops or the prisoners in the jail where your badly beaten body will be thrown in so they can finish the job properly.

Unless said prisoners sympathize... which they might, if the attacker's got the "revenge on society" motive. :/

[Night_stalker]

OK, so how is attacking a school fighting against society? It makes more sense to attack a poilce station, not a school.