Suspect in China kindergarten attack dies after accident

BEIJING (AP) — A 48-year-old Chinese man suspected of killing four people in an attack at a private kindergarten in southern China earlier this week died from injuries sustained during an accident while on the run, police said.

The man, Liu Xiaohui, carried out the suspected knife attack Wednesday morning at a kindergarten in Jiangxi province, killing two people on the spot. Two others later died from their injuries in the hospital. Several other people were injured.

Liu fled and went into hiding, authorities said. While on the run Wednesday night, he hid in a culvert near an expressway. After hearing the search party draw closer, Liu ran out of his hiding place, climbed over a fence and was hit by a vehicle while attempting to cross the expressway, according to a police statement issued Friday.

Liu was sent to a hospital for treatment but died from his injuries on Thursday, police said.

China has upgraded security at schools following a spate of deadly attacks in recent years attributed largely to people bearing grudges against society or with mental illnesses.

China does not allow private gun ownership, so most such attacks are carried out with knives, homemade explosives or gasoline bombs.

Around 100 children and adults have been killed and hundreds injured over the past decade in apparently uncoordinated “lone wolf” attacks in which the motive was unclear. The mostly male assailants were either killed, ended their lives or were put on trial and executed.

Acts of violence against China’s youth resonate especially strongly due to the country’s chronically low birth rate, partly due to decades of population control policies.

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