Social instability seems to be on the rise in China, and the latest (sad) incident is right here in the PRD: a man with a knife went on a rampage this morning along Tianbei Road, killing three people and injuring three more. The attack was apparently random.

Exact details of what happened remain sketchy, but initial reports are coming in via Nanfang Daily.  Reports say the man is 41 years old with the surname He.

There are concerns in China that a growing wealth gap coupled with a nation-wide economic slowdown and social injustice, usually at the hands of chengguan, are resulting in some people finally snapping.

We’ll keep you posted as details of this latest case become available.

Updated 6:15pm July 29

More details are now emerging, including the video of the police taking down the attacker below.

Xinhua says police received a call around 9:45 this morning (July 29) that a person was randomly stabbing people in Luohu.  They arrived fairly quickly thereafter, but unfortunately by then three people had succumbed to their injures.  Contrary to earlier reports, five people were injured (not three) in addition to the three that died.

Reports say the attacker was suffering from illness:

Police later detained the man and rushed the injured to the hospital, the municipal public security bureau said.

The man, surnamed He, was also sent to the hospital for treatment, as he injured himself during the attack.

The 40-year-old suspect has a history of mental illness, an initial investigation by district police authorities showed. He began to seek treatment for his illness in 1991 and has since then been taking medications and undergoing further checkups, it stated.

The suspect, originally from the city of Jieyang in Guangdong, lived in a neighborhood in the Luohu District.

He allegedly left his apartment Monday morning while experiencing a mental disturbance, rushed into a roadside restaurant, seized a knife, injured the restaurant’s owner and then attacked passersby, according to the investigation.

You can see the video of the takedown below.