This list excludes state-sanctioned killings (executions, genocides, etc.) or massacres done by military or paramilitary forces, and only includes civilian/terrorist mass murders. The list is organized by number of victims killed by knives, swords, axes, or other sharp weapons and does not count murders where knives, swords, etc. were a secondary or unused weapon.
| Date | Location | Dead | Injured | Total | Weapons used | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 1, 2014 | Kunming, Yunnan, China | 35 (including four suspects) | 143 | 178 | Knives, cleavers | 2014 Kunming attack: A group of five terrorists dressed in black clothing attacked people in a waiting area of Kunming railway station. [1] Four attackers were shot dead by police while another was arrested. | |
| February 28, 2012 | Yecheng, Xingjiang, China | 24 (including eight suspects) | 18 | 42 | Knives, axes | 2012 Yecheng attack: Nine terrorists attacked a crowd of people along Happiness Road (Chinese: 幸福路; pinyin: Xìngfú Lù) in Yecheng, killing 15 civilians and one police officer before eight assailants were killed by police. [2] | |
| Either February 1954 or mid-1955 | Angala Village, Mahagi, Belgian Congo | 22 | 0 | 22 | Machete | William Unek invited 22 family members to a banquet before murdering 20 guests while they slept, then set the home on fire. Unek then encountered two children playing outside, whom he murdered. Unek fled the scene and would go on to murder 36 others in a second killing spree in Tanganyika in 1957. | Tied with Nainital massacre as the deadliest mass stabbing committed by one perpetrator |
| April 21, 1950 | Nainital, India | 22 | 0 | 22 | Machete | A drunk Ghurka soldier fatally stabbed 22 wedding guests after being enraged by a low-caste money lender marrying a girl of the higher social-standing Brahmin caste. All of the victims were members of the Harijan caste. [3] | |
| April 15, 1987 | Banyuwangi Regency, Indonesia | 21 (including suspect) | 14 | 35 | Sickle, parang | Banjarsari massacre: 43-year-old Wirjo killed 20 and injured 12 others in the village of Banjarsari before committing suicide via hanging from a tree. [4] | |
| July 26, 2016 | Midori-ku, Sagamihara, Japan | 19 | 26 | 45 | Yanagi-ba knives, hammer | Sagamihara stabbings: 19 people were killed and 26 injured (13 seriously) at a care home for disabled people. [5] The perpetrator, 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu, was arrested and sentenced to death on March 16, 2020. As of February 2026, Uematsu is awaiting execution. | |
| September 29, 2016 | Qujing, Yunnan, China | 19 | 0 | 19 | Pickaxe | 2016 Yema village stabbings: 27-year-old Yang Qingpei murdered his parents after an argument about money, before stabbing 17 neighbors to death in an attempt to cover up the crime. [6] Yang was apprehended in Kunming and sentenced to death on July 28, 2017. | |
| March 19, 1989 | Guangxi, China | 17 | 2 | 19 | Knife | Huang Guozhen killed his brother and his wife at their house before lighting it on fire, then killed 15 others with a large knife at a market in Nafang. He would be subdued by bystanders and arrested, being sentenced to death and executed 10 days later. [7] | |
| February 28, 2016 | Thane, Maharashtra, India | 14 (including suspect) | 1 | 15 | Knife | 32-year-old Hasnain Anwar Warekar killed 13 members of his family with a large knife at a family celebration by slitting their throats before committing suicide via hanging. The suspects' sister survived the attack but was critically injured. [8] | |
| May 19, 1929 | Kitale, Kenya Colony | 12 | 1 | 13 | Spear | Kitale murders: Mogo killed his wife and infant child before killing 10 others at a farm. He was sentenced to death by hanging and was executed on January 23, 1930. | |
| September 4, 2022 | Saskatchewan, Canada | 12 (including suspect) | 17 | 29 | Kitchen knife, scissors | 2022 Saskatchewan stabbings: Myles Sanderson killed 11 people (including his brother, Damien) and injured 17 others at various locations in James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon until being apprehended by police. [9] Shortly after being arrested, Myles overdosed on cocaine and died. | |
| July 26, 1764 | Greencastle, Pennsylvania, British America | 11 | 1 | 12 | Unknown | Enoch Brown school massacre: Four Delaware Lenape warriors stormed a wooden school in Pennsylvania and attacked 11 students with bladed weapons, scalping them, as well as a teacher who was also scalped and shot. 11 of the twelve victims died in the attack. | |
| May 12, 2010 | Nanzheng District, Shaanxi Province, China | 10 (including suspect) | 11 | 21 | Cleaver | Shengshui Temple kindergarten attack: Wu Huanming, 48, stormed a kindergarten with a machete, attacking several children and adults. This resulted in nine deaths – seven children and two adults – and injuries to 11 others. Huanming then killed himself by cutting his own throat. | |
| April 27, 2018 | Mizhi County, Yulin, Shaanxi, China | 9 | 12 | 21 | Knives, dagger | Mizhi County middle school stabbing: 28-year-old Zhao Zewei stabbed nine students to death and wounded 12 others at No. 3 Middle School in Mizhi County, using three knives and a dagger. Students and staff eventually subdued him before he was arrested. He was sentenced to death on July 10, 2018, and executed on September 27. [10] | |
| November 26, 2004 | Ruzhou, Henan Province, China | 9 | 3 | 12 | Knife | Ruzhou school massacre: The 21-year-old man, Yan Yanming, armed with a knife, attacked twelve male students, killing nine of them in a school dormitory, before fleeing and later being captured by Chinese authorities. | |
| December 28, 2025 | Richelieu, Commewijne District, Suriname | 9 | 3 (including suspect) | 12 | Knife | 2025 Richelieu stabbing: 43-year-old Dennis Aroma killed four of his own children and six neighbors following a dispute with his wife. Aroma was arrested and committed suicide a day later while in custody. [11] | |
| November 16, 2024 | Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China | 8 | 17 | 25 | Knife | 2024 Wuxi stabbing: Eight deaths and 17 injuries were reported at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology after student Xu Jiajin attacked them with a knife. | |
| March 23, 2010 | Nanping, Fujian Province, China | 8 | 5 | 13 | Knife | Nanping school massacre: 41-year-old Zheng Minsheng killed eight students and injured five others in a stabbing at Nanping City Experimental Elementary School. [12] Minsheng was sentenced to death on April 8, 2010, and was executed 20 days later. | |
| December 19, 2014 | Cairns, Queensland, Australia | 8 | 1 (including suspect) | 9 | Knife | Cairns child killings: 37-year-old Raina Mersane Ina Thaiday stabbed eight of her children to death, who were found by the victim's 20-year-old brother. [13] Thaiday had been hospitalized for 35 self-inflicted stab wounds after the attacks. Thaiday was deemed unfit to stand trial by reason of insanity due to undiagnosed schizophrenia and placed in a psychiatric facility indefinitely. | |
| July 13, 1966 | Chicago, Illinois, United States | 8 | 0 | 8 | Knife, strangulation | Richard Speck broke into a townhouse in Chicago and murdered/raped eight student nurses through stabbing and strangulation. Four days later, Speck was arrested at a hospital and sentenced to death in 1967 until his death sentence was reversed in 1971. | Deadliest mass stabbing in the United States |
| April 13, 2024 | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | 7 (including perpetrator) | 12 (10 by stabbing) | 19 | Ka-Bar knife | Bondi Junction stabbings: 40-year-old Joel Cauchi fatally stabbed six people, including an infant, at Westfield Bondi Junction in Sydney, Australia, before being shot dead by a police officer. | |
| April 1, 1996 | Yizhang County, Henan Province, China | 7 | 5 | 12 | Unknown | Wang Xiangjun, a mentally ill man, killed seven students and injured five others in a mass attack at two different schools. [14] | |