8 children killed in China school
From CNN Producer Steven Jiang
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- A man armed with a knife has broken into a high school dormitory in central China, killing eight students and injuring four others, a school official told CNN.
"The students were all sleeping when the incident happened," said the unidentified official at the No. 2 High School in Ruzhou, a city in Henan Province.
"Students and teachers are calm now," she said Friday. "Classes are still being held as usual today."
Police were searching for the attacker following the killings, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
It said authorities also were investigating the motive and identifying the victims.
China traditionally has enjoyed a relatively low crime rate, but has suffered a series of knife attacks in schools and day-care centers in recent months.
The earlier assaults left one child dead and injured a total of 42 people.
The central government in Beijing has ordered schools nationwide to tighten security by hiring guards and upgrading surveillance devices.
A man who slashed 25 children with a kitchen knife at a grade school in eastern China was executed Wednesday, The Associated Press reports. Though no one was killed in that attack, a court ruled that the penalty was justified because the violence was "especially cruel."
