Police say 22 children and one adult have been injured in a knife attack outside a primary school in central China, AP reported.

A police officer says the attack in the Henan province village of Chengping happened shortly before 8 a.m. Friday as students were arriving for classes.

The officer says the attacker, 36-year-old local villager, is now in police custody.

A county hospital administrator says the man first attacked an elderly woman, then students, before being subdued by security guards who have been posted across China following a spate of school attacks in recent years.