20 children injured in Chinese primary school attack

BEIJING (AP) — A male attacker injured 20 children Tuesday inside a primary school in China’s capital, officials said.

Three of the children have serious but non-life-threatening injuries, the Xicheng district government said on its social media account, adding that the attack took place at 11:17 a.m.

The suspect was apprehended at the scene and an investigation has been launched, the statement said. All of the injured children are receiving hospital treatment.

Authorities did not say what weapon, if any, was used.

Police in Xicheng, a major district of Beijing, declined to comment when reached by phone.

The primary school, Beijing No. 1 Affiliated Elementary School of Xuanwu Normal School, was founded in 1908. According to the school’s website, it has 2,537 students and 199 teaching personnel.

Many schools in China have beefed up security following violence against students and family members.

In 2010, nearly 20 children were killed in knife attacks outside school gates.

Last April, nine people were killed outside a middle school in northwestern China, allegedly by a former student seeking revenge for having been bullied. In November, five people were killed when a car plowed into a crowd of children outside a northeastern Chinese kindergarten.