

At least two people were injured during a knife attack in Shanghai this afternoon and the assailant has been apprehended.

The attack occurred around 12:20 p.m. at the corner of Xizang Middle Road and Jiujiang Road, a busy tourist area in People’s Square, according to witnesses cited in local news reports. Neither of the known victims are said to have sustained life-threatening injuries.





According to a witness surnamed Liu, two men, one armed with a knife, were seen struggling before a “strong and beefy” foreigner intervened and punched the knife-wielding suspect in his back. The same suspect was then seen chasing pedestrians along Xizang Middle Road towards the Nanjing Pedestrian Road with an object resembling a fruit knife.

Around 12:40 p.m., police received a call that people had been injured near the Bailian Shimao International Plaza, located at the Xizang Middle Road and Jiujiang Road intersection.



The attacker is allegedly from Anhui province, and it’s reported that the victims and the attacker did not know each other.

CCTV News confirmed the attack in a breaking tweet from 2:08 p.m.

#BREAKING At least 2 injured at People’s Square in Shanghai in a knife attack. The attacker was arrested. pic.twitter.com/eluiI3N0r9 — CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) April 17, 2015



We’ll continue to update as more details come through.

UPDATE [3:31 p.m.]: The foreigner who punched the attacker is said to be a male around 50 years old and 180 centimeters tall. He was accompanied by a female around the same age, according to witness reports on Weibo.

One of the victims, a 59-year-old traffic cop, suffered a cut on his leg about 20 centimeters long and 10cm deep, as well as a 15cm-long v-shaped cut on his forehead and another small wound near his eyebrow. His finger was also hurt. The other victim, in his 20s, sustained less serious knife scratches on his face, hands, chest and upper abdomen. They are both being treated at the Shanghai Changzheng Hospital.

Watch a video clip of the attacker being taken down by authorities here.

[Images via Weibo]

By Katie Nelson and Lily Lin