Solved case · 2010
The short answer
On 1 June 2010, a man armed with a submachine gun and two pistols entered a courthouse in Lingling, Yongzhou, Hunan, China, and shot and killed three judicial workers before killing himself.
No one's coverage is attached to this file yet.
Know great coverage of this case?
A documentary, a podcast episode, a careful long-form video. Suggest it and an editor will review it before it appears here.
Suggest coverage for Yongzhou courthouse shootingOn the morning of 1 June 2010, just before 10:00 a.m., 46-year-old Zhu Jun entered the Lingling District People's Court in Lingling, Yongzhou, Hunan Province, China. Armed with a submachine gun and two pistols, he opened fire at an office on the fourth floor of the courthouse, shooting people who happened to be present at the time.
The attack killed three judicial workers: presiding judge Zhao Hulin, deputy chief judge Jiang Qidong, and court clerk Huang Lan. Three additional people were injured in the shooting. According to available reporting, the victims who were killed were not discussing any case connected to the assailant; the shooting appears to have been indiscriminate against those present in the office rather than targeted at specific individuals involved in his personal legal matter.
Zhu Jun killed himself following the attack, ending the incident without a trial or prosecution.
Reporting on the motive indicates that Zhu was angry at the Chinese justice system in connection with the outcome of his divorce settlement. He had a son, and had been separated from his wife for three years prior to the shooting. At the time of the attack, Zhu worked as the head of security at the Postal Savings Bank of China's Lingling District Branch. He is reported to have obtained the weapons used in the attack from post office security personnel by falsely claiming that he needed to take the weapons to be examined.
Because the sole identified assailant died at the scene by suicide, no criminal charges were filed and there was no subsequent prosecution or trial. The case is treated as resolved in terms of identifying the person responsible, though the underlying grievance driving the attack — dissatisfaction with a divorce-related court outcome — was not itself adjudicated as a separate matter following the shooting.
Zhu Jun enters the Lingling District People's Court in Yongzhou, Hunan, armed with a submachine gun and two pistols, and shoots people at an office on the fourth floor, killing three judicial workers and injuring three others. Zhu kills himself after the attack.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Court clerk killed in the courthouse shooting.[3]
Deputy chief judge killed in the courthouse shooting.[3]
Presiding judge killed in the courthouse shooting.[3]
Identified as the sole assailant in the shooting; died by suicide at the scene before any formal criminal charges could be filed or adjudicated.[3]
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Are you family of someone named in this file? Corrections and removal requests from victims’ families are prioritized.
Credit: Pax Ahimsa GethenCC BY-SA 4.0SourceSOLVEDListenPulse nightclub, Orlando, Florida, United States · 2016
On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen, identified by police as the gunman, shot and killed 49 people and wounded 58 others at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, during a Latin Night event, before being fatally shot by police after a three-hour standoff.
Credit: Canadaolympic989CC BY-SA 3.0SourceSOLVEDListenSandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut · 2012
On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot his mother at their Newtown, Connecticut home, then killed 20 children and six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School before killing himself as police arrived.
Credit: AlgrCC BY-SA 3.0SourceSOLVEDListenCentury 16 theater (now Century Aurora), Aurora, Colorado · 2012
On July 20, 2012, James Eagan Holmes opened fire during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises at a Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. He was convicted in 2015 of 24 counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Credit: si.robiCC BY-SA 2.0SourceUNSOLVEDListenBeijing, China · 2021
In November 2021, Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai posted an allegation on Weibo that retired Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli had pressured her into sex, then vanished from public communication as censors erased the post, prompting a global campaign over her safety and a temporary WTA suspension of events in China.
Credit: WQLCC BY-SA 3.0SourceSOLVEDListenGuilin West Street, Pubei Road, near Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary School, Xuhui District · 2018
On 28 June 2018, a man stabbed four people near Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary School, killing two boys and injuring another boy and a parent. The attacker, Huang Yichuan, was arrested at the scene and executed in December 2020 after being convicted of intentional homicide.
Credit: 40fifw0Public domainSourceSOLVEDListenKunming Railway Station, Kunming, Yunnan, China · 2014
On 1 March 2014, five knife-wielding attackers killed 31 people and wounded 143 at Kunming Railway Station in China. Four attackers were shot dead by police and one was captured; investigators linked the attack to a Xinjiang separatist group, with thirteen people ultimately implicated.
