Boy had knife to frighten his classmates

SCHOOLBOY Tang Junjie, arrested for allegedly stabbing a younger student to death, is to be charged with assault by the Minhang District Prosecutors' Office.

Both Tang and the boy who died, Xu Yidong, were students at Shanghai Qunyi Vocational School. Tang, 17, allegedly told prosecutors that he took a knife to school because it frightened other pupils when he took it out.

One lunchtime, Tang was in the canteen having a meal when he was annoyed by a group of new students who were making a noise. He took out the knife to threaten them.

The three didn't argue with him and left but on the way out reported the matter to a student union member surnamed Ni. Prosecutors said Ni and a few of his classmates decided to investigate as they knew the rule was that knives weren't allowed in school.

When they found Tang, he allegedly took out the knife again and threatened to stab them. The victim, Xu, in a bid to protect his classmates, pushed Tang away from the group and was stabbed in the chest, prosecutors said.

Xu was taken to hospital but the 16-year-old died.

Tang told prosecutors his mind suddenly went blank after Xu fell down, and the knife was covered with blood.