(Radio Iowa) – Chinese officials say they’ve arrested a 55-year-old man suspected of stabbing four Cornell College instructors. Cornell College, based in Mount Vernon, has had a longstanding relationship with a university in northeast China and the four educators were attacked in a public park. One of the survivors, David Zabner, spoke with Iowa Public Radio from his hospital room in China. He said the group was leaving the park when he heard a sound. “I turned around to find a man brandishing a knife at me. I didn’t immediately realize that was what was happening. I thought my coworkers had been pushed and he, for some reason, was trying to push me,” Zabner said. “And then I looked down at my shoulder and realized: ‘No, I’m bleeding. I’ve been stabbed.'”

Pictures and video of the aftermath quickly began circulating on Chinese social media sites, but most have been taken down by the Chinese government. In one picture, Zabner can be seen wincing in pain as paramedics attend to another instructor bleeding from his back.  “I can see why kind of the visceral proof of what happened is important,” Zabner said, “but it’s also really upsetting.”

Zabner was stabbed in the arm, six inches below his shoulder. He and his three colleagues are still receiving treatment. Zabner says he appreciates the thoughts and prayers from people back home and the help from the U.S. Consulate and Iowa’s congressional delegation. He says he’s looking forward to returning to Iowa as soon as he can.