Japanese police yesterday arrested a man who allegedly stabbed 10 people on a commuter train in Tokyo hours earlier, in what public broadcaster NHK reported to be a random burst of violence unrelated to the ongoing Olympic Games.
The 36-year-old man told police that he wanted to kill women who appeared happy and chose his targets at random, NHK said.
The initial victim, a woman in her 20s, was in serious condition, NHK and other Japanese media reported.
Photo: AP
Police identified the alleged attacker as Yusuke Tsushima.
The Tokyo Fire Department said that nine of the 10 injured passengers were taken to nearby hospitals, while the 10th was able to walk away.
All of the injured people were conscious, fire department officials said.
The Japanese capital is hosting the Olympic Games, which end today.
The site of the stabbing spree was about 15km from the main National Stadium.
NHK said that the suspect left his knife behind as he fled, adding that he later walked into a convenience store and identified himself as the suspect on the news, saying that he was tired of running away.
The store manager called the police after seeing bloodstains on the man’s shirt, NHK said.
TBS television reported that he told police he developed the intent to kill women who “looked happy,” and stabbed a woman who happened to be seated near him in the carriage.
He also told police that he staged the attack inside a train because it offered the chance to kill a large number of people.
The suspect was also carrying cooking oil and a lighter, with which he allegedly intended to set a fire inside the carriage, NHK reported, quoting police.
A witness at a nearby station where the train stopped said that passengers were rushing out of the carriages, shouting that there was a stabbing and asking for first aid.
Another witness told NHK that he saw passengers smeared with blood come out of the train, as an announcer asked for doctors and for passengers carrying towels.
Dozens of paramedics and police officers arrived at the station, one of the witnesses said.
The stabbing occurred near Seijogakuen-Mae Station, railway operator Odakyu Electric Railway Co said.
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