Huang Yichuan was born on 3 June 1989 in Shaoyang, Hunan Province, China. His early life was marked by instability and psychological issues. His parents divorced during his childhood, and he was raised in a government-allocated housing complex for civil servant families. His grandmother was reportedly diagnosed with schizophrenia decades earlier, and some family members believed Huang may have inherited the condition.

Huang attended Hunan University of Science and Technology where he studied architecture. During his university years, fellow students described him as antisocial, withdrawn, and increasingly unstable. He left threatening messages to classmates online and was known for erratic behavior. After graduating, Huang struggled to establish a stable career. Between 2012 and 2018, he failed the Chinese postgraduate admissions exams multiple times and cycled through more than ten different jobs.

Despite these professional setbacks, Huang attempted to maintain a facade of success, often lying to family and acquaintances about his income and lifestyle. His mother and distant relatives noticed his increasing irritability and reclusive nature, particularly around the 2018 Lunar New Year. During the year leading up to the murders, he traveled extensively across China — including visits to Xiamen, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Shanghai — during which he scoped out several schools and kindergartens as potential targets for a mass attack.

In June 2018, he traveled to Shanghai and stayed at a youth hostel in Pudong. There, he finalized his plan to take revenge on society. Days before the attack, Huang reportedly heard that Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary School was holding its graduation ceremony. He decided to strike students from that institution, perceiving them as symbols of the privileged and successful life he believed he had been denied.

On 28 June 2018, at approximately 11:30 a.m., Huang Yichuan launched a brutal knife attack on a group near the gate of the West Campus of the Shanghai World Foreign Language Primary School in the city’s Xuhui District. Armed with a kitchen knife, he stabbed three male students and one female parent as they were walking along Guilin West Street, just 130 meters from the school gate. Two of the boys, identified by their surnames Tan and Fei, were fatally injured. Tan succumbed to central nervous system trauma and hemorrhagic shock, while Fei died from severe head wounds and massive bleeding. A third student, Jin, and the parent, Zhang, sustained minor head injuries.

The attack caused chaos, and bystanders quickly intervened. Local security guards and pedestrians—including a passing air conditioner repairman—helped restrain Huang. A video from the scene showed people trying to stop the children’s bleeding while holding Huang down until police arrived. He was arrested without resistance at the scene by officers from the Xuhui Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau. A public notice was issued later that afternoon, and the identity of the attacker was confirmed as 29-year-old Huang Yichuan.

Huang admitted that his motive stemmed from personal frustration, social rejection, and a desire to exact revenge on society. The following day, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced his formal arrest. On 14 August 2018, public prosecution proceedings began, and on 6 December 2018, his case was brought to trial at the First Intermediate People’s Court of Shanghai. During the proceedings, he reiterated his motivations and was officially diagnosed with schizophrenia. However, the court noted that his planning, execution, and targeting of innocent children indicated awareness and premeditation.

On 23 May 2019, the court found Huang guilty of intentional homicide. The judgment emphasized his despicable motive, the cruelty of the murders, and his deliberate choice to harm defenseless children. Though he had limited criminal responsibility due to schizophrenia, it was ruled that his illness did not impair his ability to control his actions. He was sentenced to death and permanently stripped of his political rights.

Huang did not appeal immediately after sentencing, but later filed a formal appeal, which was heard on 30 August 2019 by the Shanghai Senior People’s Court. During the second trial, he argued that he had acted in a state of mental incapacity and had not preplanned the attack. However, the court determined that all evidence supported the original verdict. On 30 December 2019, the appeal was rejected, and the death sentence upheld. The ruling was submitted to the Supreme People’s Court for final approval.

After the final review, Huang Yichuan was executed on 3 December 2020.