Huangpu District Police reported on social media that they received emergency reports at 11.30am. local time (0430 BST) on Saturday for a stabbing at Ruijin Hospital. “Police quickly arrived on the scene and discovered a man holding a group of people hostage at knifepoint on the seventh floor of the hospital,” the statement said. “When the suspect intended to injure the hostages and punish the police, the police fired decisively to injure and subdue him.” Four members of the public are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, the statement added. The motive of the perpetrator remains unclear. Chinese media released videos showing armed police trying to break into a locked hospital room. Another video that went viral on social media showed more than a dozen members of the public running out of the building. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Mass violent crime is rare in China, which strictly prohibits citizens from owning firearms, but knife attacks do occur occasionally. Last month, a 23-year-old man in the eastern city of Ningbo died after being brutally stabbed in the street at noon. The video of the attack near a bus stop went viral on social media. In recent years, a number of deadly knife attacks targeting kindergarten and school students have occurred across the country, carried out by people who are said to be seeking revenge on society.
