Three dead and 15 injured in knife attack in Chinese supermarket

At least three people were killed and 15 others injured in a knife attack Monday at a Walmart supermarket in Shanghai, China.

A 37-year-old man surnamed Lin was arrested at the scene when police responded to reports of a knife attack, the local Songjiang Police Department said in a statement on Tuesday.

The attack occurred on the eve of the week-long National Day holiday at a shopping mall in a suburb southwest of Shanghai, China’s largest city and a major financial center.

The suspect came to Shanghai to “vent his anger over a personal economic dispute,” police said.

At least 18 people were hospitalized with injuries, three of whom later died.

The remaining injured “did not suffer life-threatening wounds” and were not in danger, officials said.

Videos on Chinese social media showed that a child was one of the victims of the knife attack along with several passers-by in the supermarket. However, the videos and images appear to have been censored by authorities on social media after the attack sparked widespread anger.

It was the latest knife attack in China, where firearms are banned. In recent months there have been a number of such rampages in the country, in which several foreigners have also been injured or killed.

Last month, a 10-year-old Japanese student died after being stabbed near his school in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. This was followed by another knife attack at a school bus stop at a Japanese school, killing a Chinese national who tried to save the child.

In June, four U.S. university lecturers were attacked with a knife in a public park in the northeastern city of Jilin.

In May, at least two people were killed and 21 injured in a knife attack at a hospital in southwest China.

The attack comes as China marks the 75th year of the Communist Party’s rule amid major economic challenges and no celebrations have been announced for Tuesday.

The world’s second largest economy is developing sluggishly and is missing its rather modest growth target of 5 percent. In July 2024, Chinese government data showed that GDP growth fell below the government’s target.