17-year-old boy attacks teacher with hammer after dispute over late homework

A 17-year-old schoolboy in Shanghai attacked his English teacher after a dispute over a late assignment.

According to an article in Shanghai Daily, the incident happened when the boy, an 11th-grader at the Shanghai Tonghe Middle School in Baoshan District, went to the teacher's office about noon on Wednesday.

The teacher, a 37-year-old surnamed Yuan, had earlier reprimanded the unnamed pupil, who turns 18 on Sunday, for not handing in his homework.

Yuan told police that the boy went to her office about lunchtime and for awhile simply stood outside the door. When she asked him about his missing homework, he reached into his bag, pulled out a hammer and began hitting her.

Yuan said she did not know how many times she was struck.

A witness said he heard screams coming from Yuan's room and several teachers ran to investigate. They found her lying on the floor with blood coming from her head, and spotted the teenager fleeing the scene.

A colleague called the emergency services and Yuan was taken to the Shanghai No. 10 People's Hospital.

An examination showed Yuan had eight lacerations to her head, and had suffered a small fracture near her scalp. The doctor said she was also concussed, and that internal bleeding had resulted in bruising to her left eye.

Despite the severity of the attack, Yuan is in stable condition and should not suffer any long-term memory loss, he said.

Visit STOMP for more stories.