Four Iowa college students, including the brother of a state lawmaker, were stabbed Monday while walking in a park in China, according to U.S. and Chinese authorities.
The students from Cornell College, a private liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa, were in the country teaching at Beihua University in Jilin City. Mount Vernon is about two hours east of Des Moines. The students were in China as part of a partnership with Beihua.
“We have been in contact with all four instructors and are assisting them during this time,” Cornell College President Jonathan Brand said in a schoolwide email on Monday, adding that no other students were taking part in the overseas program.
Iowa state Rep. Adam Zabner told ABC News that his brother, David Zabner, was one of the four stabbing victims. Zabner said he spoke to his brother, who was stabbed in the arm, by phone and that he is “doing well.”
“My family is incredibly grateful that David survived this attack. We’d like to see David home in lowa as soon as possible,” Adam Zabner said in an Instagram post. “We’re deeply thankful to the state department and lowa’s federal delegation and understand that they are working hard to make that happen. We also appreciate the support of friends and family who have reached out in the last 24 hours.”
The man in custody was identified by Hong Kong newspaper Sing Tao and Radio Free Asia as Cui Dapeng, a 55-year-old local.
“Cui collided into a foreigner while walking in Beishan Park, and then stabbed the foreigner and three fellow foreigners with a knife, as well as a Chinese tourist who tried to stop him,” Jilin City police said in a social media statement, adding that the victims’ injuries were “not life-threatening.”
Chinese authorities have downplayed the theory that the students were attacked because they are from the United States.
The U.S. State Department said it was aware of the situation and actively monitoring it.
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Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds posted on X that she has been “in touch with Iowa’s federal delegation and the state department in response to this horrifying attack.”
“Please pray for their full recovery, safe return, and their families here at home,” she added.