The children who attend this elementary school are between 6 and 12 years of age.

Knife attacks in China, especially at schools, are not uncommon, with a number of similar attacks taking place in recent years.

In October 2018, a woman wielding a kitchen knife slashed at least 14 children at a kindergarten in the central city of Chongqing.

Nine students were killed at a middle school in Shaanxi province in April 2018 by a 28-year-old man who was later sentenced to death.

In 2017, 11 students were injured after a man climbed over the wall of a kindergarten with a knife and began attacking them.