An 8-year-old girl was stabbed and died at A elementary school in Daejeon.
On the 10th, the Daejeon City Office of Education held a meeting later that afternoon and decided to implement an emergency discretionary closure for A elementary school the following day. The school was originally scheduled to begin spring break on the 14th.
According to Daejeon police and fire authorities, at around 6 p.m. on the 10th, a first-grade student, identified as A, and a female teacher, B (in her 40s), were found in the audiovisual room on the second floor of a school building in Gwanjeo-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon, after being stabbed.
DAEWON members transported the unconscious A to the hospital, but she died.
The female teacher, who was stabbed in the neck and arm, was reported to be conscious and not in life-threatening condition. Police are investigating the case, suspecting that the teacher injured herself after the attack.
The teacher under investigation reportedly admitted to the crime around 9 p.m. that day, according to police. They found that the teacher, who holds a regular teacher status, had taken a leave of absence due to depression and other issues before returning to work at the end of last year.
The teacher, who resumed her position as a subject-specialized teacher, was known to have had no usual relationship with the deceased student.
Before going to a private academy, the deceased child typically attended care classes at school until 4:40 p.m. After the parents received a call that their child had not arrived at the academy, they reported her missing around 5:18 p.m. The school also informed the police that someone was trapped in the audiovisual room on the second floor around 5:50 p.m. The police, upon receiving the report, arrived at the school and found the two individuals collapsed in the audiovisual room.
Currently, teacher B is undergoing surgery, and the police investigation has been temporarily suspended. Once the surgery is completed and B's health has stabilized, the police plan to investigate the exact motive and circumstances of the crime.
The education authorities have expressed their bewilderment at the occurrence of a violent incident on school grounds. The school is verifying how student A, who normally finished her care class at around 4:40 p.m. on the day of the incident, was in the presence of the female teacher at that time.