China stabbing: Iowa instructor describes moment of attack

Lina Portman3 weeks ago

0 2 minutes read

Image source, Adam Zabner

Legend, David Zabner was one of five people who authorities say were stabbed in the attack.

Author, Madeleine Halpert
Role, BBC News, New York
June 12, 2024

David Zabner is one of four instructors from Cornell College in Iowa who were attacked Monday in the northeastern province of Jilin while working with a local partner university.

Police said a 55-year-old man, surnamed Cui, was arrested during the incident.

Mr Zabner said he and his colleagues had gone to visit the “beautiful, green and mountainous” Beishan Park when a man attacked them.

“I turned around and found a man brandishing a knife at me,” he told Iowa Public Radio from a hospital in China. “I didn’t immediately realize what was happening.”

“Then I looked at my shoulder and realized, 'I'm bleeding.' I was stabbed,” he said.

On Tuesday, Mr. Zabner and his three colleagues were receiving treatment for non-life-threatening injuries at a hospital. A fifth person, a Chinese tourist, was also injured.

None of the other victims have been publicly identified.

Police described the attack – a rare event for foreigners in the country – as an isolated incident.

They say the attacker confronted one of the Americans and stabbed them. He then injured three other American visitors and a Chinese tourist who tried to help them.

“The police told us he was unemployed and down on his luck, and that someone in our group ran into him,” Zabner told Iowa Public Radio. . “And he decided to respond the way he responded.”

Footage of the incident circulating online – showing at least three people bleeding on the ground – appeared to be quickly censored on the Chinese internet.

Image source, Adam Zabner

Legend, David Zabner had already taught in China before

Mr. Zabner was identified as one of the victims by his brother, Iowa Representative Adam Zabner. His brother said David was a Tufts University doctoral student who had previously visited China and was on his second trip to the country with Cornell College.

The Mount Vernon, Iowa, school began a partnership with Beihua University in 2018 to provide money for Cornell professors to live in China and teach part of a course over a two-week period.

In a context of tense diplomatic relations, Beijing and Washington have recently sought to restore exchanges between people.

Mr. Zabner said he first participated in the Cornell-Beihua program in 2019 to teach computer science courses.

He said it was cold outside during his first visit to the country and he was excited about the trip because it was the summer months, he told Iowa Public Radio .

Mr. Zabner's brother, Adam, told the BBC that the U.S. State Department and Iowa's federal delegation were working to bring him back.

“My family is incredibly grateful that David survived this attack,” he said.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the United States was “deeply concerned” about the stabbing attacks.

He said his team was in contact with their Chinese counterparts and victims of the attack to ensure they received help and “appropriate law enforcement action was taken.”