Killer in latest school massacre 'had argued over kindergarten's lease'

A CHINESE man who hacked to death seven nursery children as young as three had argued with the school's manager over the property's lease, neighbours said yesterday, offering a possible motive behind the latest in a string of bloody rampages in the nation's schools.

The school's manager and her elderly mother were also killed in the Wednesday's attack, which left 11 other children in hospital.

It was the deadliest of five such assaults on schools in less than two months, and occurred despite heightened security across China, with gates and cameras installed at some schools and additional police and guards posted at entrances.

The attacks have raised concerns about the rising emotional stress in China's high-pressure, rapidly changing society, along with a dire lack of support for those with mental illness.

Yesterday, police cordoned off the Shengshui Temple Kindergarten, a tumble-down two-storey building on the outskirts of Hanzhong, an industrial city of nearly four million people.

The man who charged into the nursery and hacked at his victims with a cleaver was also a familiar figure to them, according to doctors and residents. The killer, 48-year-old Wu Huanming, took his own life at home following the attack.

Neighbours said Wu had leased his house to Wu Hongying, a teacher and school administrator, for the kindergarten, but there was a dispute over the rent. He then demanded the property back, but Wu Hongying asked to hold on to it until the summer holidays.

Zhen Xiulan, 71, who lives about 200 yards from the school, said Wu was known to be quiet and mild.

"This kid was very honest and didn't talk much. He didn't have mental problems that we knew of," said Mr Zhen, who claimed to have known Wu his entire life.

"None of us would ever have imagined he would do something so terrible," he said.

Mr Zhen, who was at home when the attacks happened, said the bodies of the children had massive head gashes, while the teacher who was killed had been almost decapitated.

Six of the most badly injured children – four boys and two girls, aged between three and six-and-a-half – were being treated at the 3201 Hospital in Hanzhong and were in stable conditions last night in intensive care with head wounds, said Zhao Fangling, deputy director of the hospital. The other five survivors were being treated at another hospital.

Hospital director Cui Xiangbin said the killer was known to the children.

"The children saw him every day.," Mr Cui said.

The carnage started as class was beginning on Wednesday, the local government said.

Wu entered the kindergarten and killed Wu Hongying and a pupil on the spot, then began hacking at the 18 other victims, according to a city government statement.

Six pupils and Wu Hongying's 80-year-old mother died later in the hospital of their injuries, it said.

Sociologists claim that the recent attacks that have left 17 dead and scores injured reflect the tragic consequences of ignoring mental illness and rising stress resulting from huge social inequalities in China's fast-changing society. A recent study in the Lancet medical journal found that less than 10 per cent of 173 million Chinese adults believed to suffer from mental illness had ever received professional help.

"The perpetrators have contracted a 'social psychological infectious disease' that shows itself in a desire to take revenge on society," said Zhou Xiaozheng of Beijing's Renmin University.

"They pick children as targets because they are the weakest and most vulnerable."