A court in China has handed down a suspended death sentence to a man for driving his car into a crowd of students outside a primary school in Hunan province.
The attacker, identified as Huang Wen, was arrested at the scene in November after he repeatedly rammed his car into the crowd, injuring about 30 people, including 18 children.
Huang reportedly got out of the vehicle once it malfunctioned and began attacking bystanders with a weapon before being apprehended by parents. He was subsequently handed over to the police.
Videos posted on social media of the aftermath showed children and adults lying on the ground receiving treatment, with some students running away from the scene. Shortly after, the videos were taken down by the government.
The Changde Intermediate People’s Court on Monday handed Huang the death sentence with a two-year reprieve, usually commuted to life in prison if the convicted commits no further crimes during the suspension period.
The court stated that he rammed his car into the crowd after losing invested money, directing his frustration at the bystanders.
“Huang Wen chose an unspecified number of innocent primary school students as his main targets. His criminal motives were despicable and his malice is objectively deep,” the court said.
The court said the attacker’s behaviour resulted in multiple injuries, significant damage to public and private property, and psychological trauma for the witnesses, which led to the harsh sentence.
Huang’s attack occurred just a week after a man drove into people exercising at a sports complex in the city of Zhuhai, located to the south, killing 35 people and wounding dozens.
China this year witnessed a spate of violent incidents that have shocked the country and ignited a discussion about the toll of economic slowdown and the phenomenon of “taking revenge on society”.
At least eight people were killed and 17 wounded after a former student went on a stabbing rampage at a vocational college in eastern China last month. The accused, 21, identified only by the surname Xu, was due to graduate this year but failed his exam.
According to police records, there have been at least 19 incidents of violence in China this year in which the attacker was unknown to the victims, resulting in 63 deaths and 166 injuries.
This marks a sharp rise from last year when 16 people were killed and 40 injured.
