Chilling security camera footage that has exploded across social media appears to capture the moment a teenage student turned a quiet school corridor into a scene of panic.
The grainy black-and-white clip, timestamped 6.35 am on 4 September, shows a boy in a white T-shirt and dark trousers moving through a long tiled hallway. One figure can be seen running away. Another slumps against a wall as items lie scattered on the floor. The boy later walks the corridor holding an object in his hand.
The video, first widely shared by Spanish-language account Alerta Mundial, has been viewed tens of thousands of times. Accompanying posts claimed a 14-year-old pupil “chased and randomly stabbed” classmates, leaving at least five injured, some seriously. Unofficial reports circulating online spoke of three deaths. Vietnamese authorities have not confirmed any fatalities.
‘He had to complete the mission’
A follow-up post from the same account cited an unnamed police source quoted by Vietnamese media operating abroad. It claimed the boy had prepared items in advance, was “addicted to online video games,” and told investigators he “had to kill 10 people, set himself on fire with petrol and burn the school to complete the mission of the system.”
The phrasing has been compared by some commenters to the language of certain online games in which players receive specific “missions.” An article published by the overseas Vietnamese newspaper Người Việt named a 15-year-old student, Huỳnh Dương Công Bằng, and placed the incident at Thạnh An high school in Cần Giờ, on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City. It said the attack happened the morning before the official start of the new school year and that the boy’s parents were divorced.
Those details have not been independently verified by state media inside Vietnam.
Police deny one version of events
Officials in Bà Rịa ward, Ho Chi Minh City, moved quickly to reject claims the attack happened on their patch. After checking, they said no such incident occurred in their jurisdiction and warned residents not to share “unverified” videos. Some social media users then suggested the footage actually came from Cần Giờ instead.
The mismatch highlights how tightly controlled information remains in Vietnam. Local outlets have stayed largely silent, while clips and rumours have raced around Telegram, Threads and X.
Parents watching the video have expressed horror at how easily a student appeared able to move through the building. The early-morning timing, before many staff would have been present, has only added to the sense of unease.
The footage itself does not clearly show the moment of any stabbing. What it does show is a deserted corridor, a fleeing figure, and a boy walking with something in his hand after the apparent commotion.
As of Sunday afternoon, no official casualty figures, school name confirmation, or statement from the Ministry of Education had been released inside the country. The boy, if the overseas reports are accurate, is a minor and would be dealt with under Vietnam’s juvenile justice system.
The video continues to circulate. For now, the most detailed account remains the one coming from outside Vietnam’s official channels — and the pictures from that school hallway at 6.35 am on a Friday morning.
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