Man who killed two in China stabbing spree arrested

BEIJING - A Chinese man who killed two women and injured seven children with a knife and an axe in Shaanxi province has been arrested, officials said Tuesday.

The attacker, identified as 35-year-old Song Lirong, a native of Songjiapo village in Shaanxi, had quarrelled with his wife, prompting her to leave for her parents’ home, Xue Yawei, a county government official, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Blaming his neighbours for instigating the quarrel, Song took a kitchen knife and an axe and went to six neighbouring houses Monday and killed two women, aged 59 and 39, and injured seven children, including an 18-month-old boy, Xue said.

Song was arrested Tuesday in Zhangjiashan village in Wubu county, a spokesman with the public security bureau said, adding that the accused had fled the scene on a motorbike after the attack.

Police have taken Song back to his home village for questioning, he said.

The injured, most of whom suffered head injuries, were being treated at two hospitals in Wubu. As of Tuesday, six of them were in a stable condition but a 20-year-old woman, named Song Junqing, who suffered a skull fracture, was still in critical condition.