Man Drives Vehicle Into People at Community Exercise Facility
On 11 November in Zhuhai, China, a person drove a vehicle into a crowd, killing 35 people and injuring at least 43 others. The suspect injured himself with a knife and is in custody, but comatose and unable to respond to law enforcement.
According to reports, he drove a small SUV through a gate at the Zhuhai Sports Center Stadium, which in addition to being a stadium complex has an adjacent area used by the local community as an area for exercise and fitness. He allegedly drove the vehicle into groups of people who were walking or jogging the surrounding area.
Caption: Infographic created in Ankara, Turkiye, on 12 November 2024 depicting the vehicle ramming that killed and injured dozens in Zhuhai, China the previous day. (Photo by Murat Usubali/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The city is hosting an aviation show related to the People’s Liberation Army today, 12 November, described by the BBC as “major military airshow.” However, there is no indication the incident is related to terrorism or the air demonstration. The BBC and Al Jazeera report that a possible motive was that the man was distraught over the terms of his divorce. There is no information on whether he was targeting a specific person or place or if the incident was a random act of violence.
Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his concern over the incident, calling on authorities to make every effort to treat the injured and vowing that the perpetrator would be severely punished, the BBC reported.
The Chinese government appeared to act quickly to block access to videos and other accounts of the incident. “Videos of the attack and discussions on social media briefly took over the Chinese internet on Monday night but were swiftly taken down by censors,” The New York Times reported. “Local media interviews of witnesses were also mostly removed from the internet by Tuesday evening.”
A Security Technology video notes that vehicle attacks are hard to anticipate and stop because the perpetrators do not need any specialized skills or advanced technology, nor do they need a network or team of people to help plan or execute, and, finally, it does not require costly resources. The same video, which was based on information from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), listed possible motivations for vehicle ramming incidents, two of which might apply in this instance: domestic violence perpetrators and individuals with cognitive impairments.
Many venues as well as municipalities have taken steps to keep pedestrian bystanders safe from vehicle ramming using barricades, whether permanent structures or temporary barriers easily placed and removed when needed.
