In South Korea, a teacher stabbed an eight-year-old girl with a knife at Daejeon Elementary School in an incident that shocked the whole country. Police said the teacher confessed to stabbing the student, on Tuesday, the 11th of February, reports the British broadcaster BBC.
The girl was found stabbed at school at 18:00 local time on Monday and was pronounced dead at hospital. The teacher was also found with knife wounds next to her, which police say may have been self-inflicted.
South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the case and called on the authorities to do everything necessary “to ensure that such incidents never happen again”.
“It pains me to see such incidents because school should be our safest place,” Choi said. “I express my deep condolences to the family of the victim, who have suffered great shock and distress.”
Some local residents placed flowers and dolls at the school gates, which was closed on Tuesday.
At police briefing on Tuesday, Yook Jong-myung, chief of Daejeon West police station, said the teacher was currently recovering in hospital.
The Daejeon Education Office had earlier reported that the teacher had asked for a six-month leave on the 9th of December, citing depression, but returned to school 20 days later after a doctor said she was fit to work.
During her absence, she had suicidal thoughts, said Yook, referring to a statement the teacher had given to the police.
A few days before the knifing, the teacher had displayed violent behaviour, including assaulting another teacher, the education office said, and on the morning of the incident, two officials had arrived to investigate the conflict.
After the assault on the colleague, the education officials recommended that the teacher be placed on leave and ordered that she be physically separated from other colleagues. She had not taught a lesson since December and had had no contact with the eight-year-old student, officials said.
According to the teacher’s statement to police, she had bought a weapon on the day of the attack and brought it to school, adding that she had planned to kill herself and the child.
In her testimony, she said that she “did not care which child” would get hurt and she chose the last one to leave and managed to “lure the child into the media room” before the attack.
The student was reported missing on Monday evening after the bus driver informed the school that the student had not turned up to go home that day.
South Korea is generally a safe country with strict gun control laws. However, in recent years it has experienced a number of high-profile crimes, including knife attacks.