BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police said on Sunday they were searching for a 30-year-old man after knife attacks in the northern province of Hebei killed three people and injured one.
Police in Wenan County, where the attacks took place, published several pictures of the suspect, who they said was a local resident, and of a car they described as his getaway vehicle. They offered no motive for the attacks.
A statement on a verified social media account of a police officer of Baoding City, a neighbouring jurisdiction to Wenan County, said three individuals were attacked in public early Sunday morning and died.
Another person, attacked at home, was receiving medical treatment, the officer said.
Violent crime is comparatively rare in China, especially in major cities where security is tight, though there has been a series of knife and axe attacks in recent years.
Such attacks are often blamed on people with mental illness or with personal grievances. With gun controls being extremely strict, knives are the most common weapons used.
(Reporting by Se Young Lee and Min Zhang; editing by John Stonestreet)