Following the violent attacks at three Chinese schools in recent weeks, two men have been arrested in different cities for threatening to attack children. From AP:
Liu Yongche, 39, was detained on May 2, a week after a local elementary school in Wuxi, west of Shanghai, received an anonymous letter demanding 100,000 yuan (about $14,700). It threatened to harm students and teachers if the money was not paid, said the deputy director of the Wuxi Public Security Bureau, who gave only his surname, Chen.
…The second man, who was only identified by the surname Hu, was detained from Monday through Wednesday after posting a comment on an online bulletin board suggesting “to kill a kid to have some fun.”
Hu, a 20-year-old, was not accused of committing a crime, Chen said.
“He was feeling empty inside and wanted to attract attention,” he said.
Experts say the violence against children reflects a lack of support for the mentally ill and the huge social inequalities in China’s fast-changing society.
In Beijing on Monday, a man was shot by police after he briefly held a child hostage. Reuters reports: