News (World)

Knife-wielding maniac storms gender studies class & stabs professor

The man asked what the class was about then started stabbing.
By
Man with knife initiating a stabbing attack.
Photo: Shutterstock

A professor and two students were stabbed in a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo near Toronto yesterday. According to police, the victims sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries and were transported to hospital.

A man described by the school as “a member of the University of Waterloo community” was taken into custody.

Related:

Furious judge slams Montana for defying court orders in trans rights case & orders state to pay

District Court Judge Michael G. Moses held the state in contempt for defying his previous orders in support of trans rights.

According to the Associated Press, an official familiar with the case confirmed the suspect will be charged with a hate crime.

The incident occurred just after 3:30 p.m. Wednesday when witnesses say a man in his 20s or 30s walked into a classroom in Hagley Hall on the Waterloo campus and asked the professor what the class was about.

The class was Philosophy 202: Gender Issues. According to the university’s website, the class is about “issues relating to sex/gender” and asks, “What, if anything, is the difference between sex and gender? How much of a role do facts about biology play in our ideas about sex and gender? How many sexes are there? What ethical issues arise for us in virtue of our gender?”

Jinming Li, an arts and business student and an eyewitness to the attack, told campus newpaper Imprint that the man then closed the door, pulled two knives out of a backpack he was carrying, and stabbed the professor. He then attacked two students.

Police arrived on scene shortly after.

An order to shelter in place was issued and the building was evacuated. Students in the vicinity barricaded themselves as the incident unfolded.

Third-year student Jackson Yan was studying on the third floor of the building when the stabbing occurred and described a student in the class who ran out screaming for others to run. Word of the attack popped up on phones soon after, according to Yan.

Police have not provided the name of the man taken into custody or a motive for the attack.

Eyewitness Li called the incident “shocking” and lamented a lack of protection on campus.

“They can come in our buildings,” he said. “Everyone can come in our university, and we don’t have security, right?”

Following the incident, students and faculty complained on social media about the failure of the school’s WatSafe app, developed to inform community members about major campus emergencies, to send out a notification alerting people to the attack.

“Why they didn’t work when we needed them is a question we’re gonna have to answer in the aftermath of what we did here,” said Nick Manning, associate vice president of communications at the school.

Classes resumed Thursday morning and the university planned a vigil for the victims 24 hours after the attack took place.

Don't forget to share:
News (World)
Canada hate crime

Support vital LGBTQ+ journalism

Reader contributions help keep LGBTQ Nation free, so that queer people get the news they need, with stories that mainstream media often leaves out. Can you contribute today?

Once Monthly Annually

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated

Queer Indonesians can’t celebrate Pride in public. But they’re still doing it behind closed doors

Previous article

Supreme Court rules in favor of Christian postal employee who wanted Sundays off

Next article

More in News (World)