Man Asks ChatGPT for Advice Before Launching a Knife Attack on Kindergartners

A man who is about to stand trial for stabbing kindergartners reportedly used ChatGPT to help him plan out the attack.

Han L was arrested in Zurich in 2024 after allegedly approaching a group of 5-year-old boys on their way to school and stabbing them with a roughly 3-inch kitchen knife — one of two he brought to the scene, according to Swiss outlet, Brick. All the boys survived but suffered severe injuries.

Han L, 24, is originally from China but moved to Europe in 2023. The outlet reports he became unhappy with his life and by August of 2024, he began planning violence. In court documents that came out ahead of his September 17 trial, it was revealed that he asked ChatGPT the “legal consequences of various ways of killing random victims by stabbing.”

After ordering clothes and knives for the attack he was allegedly planning, Han L asked ChatGPT again where he could find children in Zurich. Days later, he used both ChatGPT and Google to study the anatomy of the upper body. Brick reports that he purchased beef the day before the attack to practice stabbing and slashing techniques.

The next day, he went out with two knives and spotted the group of children and repeatedly stabbed the children he was able to catch. Eventually, Brick reports a caregiver intervened and held him down until police arrived.

One boy suffered injuries to his collarbone, neck and shoulder; another required emergency surgery for two stab wounds to his chest that pierced his heart. The third suffered injuries to his ear and lung.

Han L confessed to the crime on April 2025 and has been awaiting trial.