A crazed man has just recently went on a stabbing rampage in Japan’s Akihabara district of Tokyo:
A MAN went on a stabbing spree yesterday in a busy Tokyo neighbourhood famed for comic-book subculture, killing at least seven people and leaving around a dozen injured in Japan’s deadliest crime in years.
The assailant, who later told police he was “tired of living,” drove a truck into a crowd of pedestrians shortly after noon in Tokyo’s bustling Akihabara area before jumping out and stabbing strangers while screaming.
The assailant was identified as Tomohiro Kato, 25, from central Shizuoka prefecture.
He said he was a gangster before retracting his story.
“I came to Akihabara to kill people. It didn’t matter whom I’d kill,” he was quoted by Jiji Press as telling police.
Mr Kato, bespectacled in a beige suit and black-and-white sneakers, was armed with a survival knife and duelled with a police officer who fought back with a baton.
By the time Mr Kato finally dropped his knife with an officer’s gun pointed at him, 17 people lay bloodied on the street of the crowded district, according to fire department and police officials.
Jiji Press and other Japanese media said seven people were dead - six men aged 19, 20, 29, 33, 47 and 74, and a 21-year-old woman.
Mr Kato had blood running down the side of his face as he was taken into custody.
Kyodo News reported that he was a temporary worker at an auto component factory in Shizuoka. [AFP]
The Akihabara neighborhood I have been to a few times because it is the place to go for electronics in Tokyo. Think of it as a Yongsan Electronics Market on steroids. It is also a good place to go to see Otaku dressed up in their Cosplay outfits as well.
The place during the day is usually pretty packed and may be why the killer chose this area to go on his rampage. Here is a picture of the killer as he is being arrested by police:
He apparently had a duel with a Japanese policeman who fought him with a baton. In some of the pictures I have seen there is one with a wounded policeman that I wonder if he was the one fighting off the man? Sad story and just goes to show that there are crazy people in every society.
Japan Probe has running updates on the rampage with plenty of pictures to check out.
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9:28 am on June 9th, 2008 1
why doesnt the police carry a handgun or at least a stungun? it’s time for the japanese cops to carry a real weapon to defend and protect their citizen.
anyway, too bad for the expat community that this happened in japan, not in korea. u guys could have had such a field day if it was a korean bitter ahjussi who went nuts.
2:15 am on June 10th, 2008 2
They’re having a field day in Japan anyway, as Japanese internet is saying the man must be an ethnic Korean. That’s what usually happens when there is a high profile crime case.