Knife assailant diagnosed with schizophrenia

A man who killed two of his relatives and injured 11 passers-by in a knife assault spree earlier this year in Shanghai has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and has been ordered to receive hospital treatment.

The procuratorate of Shanghai's Fengxian district said on Tuesday that at its request, a district court has ruled that the man, identified as Zang, 38, would be given compulsory treatment.

Zang is a native of nearby Jiangsu province. On March 26, he traveled to Fengxian district and stayed with his younger sister at her house. After a quarrel, the man chopped the woman and her mother-in-law to death before rushing downstairs to slash passers-by, including six primary school students, on March 27.

On May 27, he was sent to the Fengxian procuratorate for a mental examination.

Zang was diagnosed with schizophrenia and is a threat to public safety, the procuratorate said. With his mental health impaired and his family unable to provide guardianship, he was ordered by prosecutors to undergo compulsory treatment.