Shanghai Knife Attack: Two Injured In People's Square After Man Stabs People On Street

Two people were injured after a man attacked passers-by in central Shanghai with a knife on Friday. The suspect was arrested, according to media reports.

The attack took place in People's Square, in the center of Shanghai, mainland China's commercial center. The attacker, who suffered non-life threatening wounds, is suspected to suffer from mental health problems, China's state-run CCTV News reported.

Images shared on social media showed police officers pinning an individual to the ground, where bloodstains could be seen smeared across the sidewalk. The attack took place around 12:30 p.m. local time Friday (12:30 a.m. EDT). Neither of the victims sustained life-threatening injuries, according to reports.

No motive for the attack has been made clear. The two victims of the attack reportedly included a traffic policeman and a member of the public.

News blog Shanghaiist quoted a witness identified only by their surname, Liu, who described seeing two men, one armed with a knife struggling in the street, before a “strong” foreigner punched the man armed with the knife in the back.

The witness subsequently saw the suspect chasing pedestrians down a main road with what appeared to be a fruit knife.

Violent attacks of this nature in Shanghai are relatively rare. Last year, however, a knife attack at a railway station in China's Yunnan province had left 31 people dead.

Video of the police detaining the attacker can be viewed here.