Police stated that a former student killed eight people and injured 17 people by stabbing at a vocational college in eastern China on Saturday, and that the suspect appeared angry because he could not receive his graduation certificate and failed the exam.

The knife attack took place at the Wuxi Vocational School of Arts and Technology in Yixing, part of the city of Wuxi in the eastern province of Jiangsu. Police added that the suspect was captured at the scene and confessed to his actions.

“According to preliminary investigations, the suspect, surnamed Xu, male, 21 years old, 2024 graduate of the university, attacked others because he failed the exam and could not receive his graduation certificate and was dissatisfied with the internship compensation.” Yixing Domestic Security Bureau said in a statement.

It was stated that the injured were being treated and the investigation into the incident was continuing.

The incident came just days after a mass shooting in the southern city of Zhuhai, when a driver crashed his car into a crowd at a sports centre, killing 35 people and seriously injuring 43 in one of the deadliest attacks in contemporary Chinese history.