Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- The new school year in China began Monday with a horrifying attack . A man stabbed to death three children at a primary school in central China and then committed suicide by jumping off a building , state media reported . The attacker , identified by his surname Chen , broke into Dongfang Primary School in Hubei province around 10:20 a.m. , Xinhua news agency said , citing the local government . Wielding a knife , the man stabbed eight students and a teacher before he took his own life , the report said . Three of the students died , and the six other victims have been hospitalized , Xinhua reported . Two of the students are seriously hurt , it said . An initial investigation suggested that the attacker bore a grudge that his daughter was not allowed to attend the school after failing to complete a summer homework assignment , according to Xinhua . Monday was the first day back at school after the summer vacation for most students in China . The report said police are investigating the case . The attack happened in Yunxi county , in the administrative region of Shiyan city . A member of staff at the local education authority who answered a call from CNN said the only information available was in Xinhua 's report . Police in Shiyan did n't answer repeated phone calls . Xinhua said it was n't immediately clear how the man got into the school campus . China suffered a spate of knife and cleaver attacks targeting school children in 2010 . A number of measures were introduced at the time , including increased security at schools across the country and a regulation requiring people to register with their national ID cards when buying large knives . CNN 's Serena Dong contributed to this report .
A man stabs 8 children and a teacher at a primary school in Hubei province . Three of the children die , the other victims are hospitalized . The attacker then commits suicide by jumping off a building . NEW : Initial investigation suggests man 's daughter was not allowed to attend class .