Xi'an (People's Daily)- The Intermediate People's Court of Yulin City sentenced Zhao Zewei to death on Tuesday for killing nine students of a middle school in Mizhi County of Northwestern China’s Shaanxi Province.

The 28-year-old Zhao attacked the students from the No.3 Middle School in Mizhi County on their way home after school on the afternoon of April 27.  Zhao killed nine students and injured 11 others.

A statement released by the Mizhi police quoted Zhao as saying he attacked the students because he was bullied by his classmates as a student of the same school when he was a teenager.

Investigators said Zhao had purchased five knives online from March to April.

The Intermediate People's Court of Yulin City sentenced Zhao to death after a three-hour trial.