7 Killed In Tokyo Stabbing Spree

Ten Others Wounded In Attack; Police Say Assailant Went To Major Shopping Area "To Kill People"

(AP)  A Japanese man rammed a truck into a crowd of shoppers, jumped out and went on a stabbing spree in Tokyo's top electronics district Sunday, killing at least seven people and wounding 10 others.

The deadly lunchtime assault paralyzed the Akihabara neighborhood, which is wildly popular among the country's cyber-wise youth. The killings were the latest in a series of grisly knifings that have stoked fears of rising crime in Japan.

A 25-year-old man, Tomohiro Kato, was apprehended in the attack. Local news reports initially said the man was a self-proclaimed mobster, but national broadcaster NHK later said the suspect was not a gang member.

"The suspect told police that he came to Akihabara to kill people," said Jiro Akaogi, a spokesman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

"He said he was tired of life. He said he was sick of everything," Akaogi said.

The violence began when he crashed a rented, two-ton truck into pedestrians. News reports said he jumped out and began stabbing the people he'd knocked down with the truck, then turned on horrified onlookers.

Police confirmed seven deaths - six men and one woman - but they could not say whether the victims had died of injuries from the truck or were stabbed to death.

Reports said the attacker grunted and roared as he slashed and stabbed at Sunday shoppers crowding a street lined with huge stores packed with computers and other advanced electronics, and the latest in video and computer games.

"He was screaming as he was stabbing people at random," an unidentified witness told NHK.

The attack paralyzed the district and sent thousands of Sunday shoppers into a panic. At least 17 ambulances rushed to the scene, and TV footage showed rescue workers tending to victims in the street.

An unidentified witness told NHK the suspect dropped the knife after police threatened to shoot him. An amateur video filmed by a mobile phone showed policemen overpowering the bespectacled suspect.

Another amateur video taken five minutes after the rampage showed shoppers helping the victims and a man screaming, "Ambulance, Ambulance!" according to NHK.

Police earlier said 12 people were wounded but later lowered the number 10.

Once rare, stabbing attacks have become more frequent in Japan in recent years as violent crime has increased.

In March, one person was stabbed to death and at least seven others were hurt by a man who went on a slashing spree with two knives outside a shopping mall in eastern Japan. In one of the worst attacks, a man with a history of mental illness burst into an elementary school in Japan in 2001 and killed eight children. The killer was executed in 2004.

[patriot12436]

flangesqueal
For your information i have never been a member of any political party. I think to vote blindly for any party is sheer stupidity. I have always looked at the issues and what a candidate says he can offer to make my decisions on who to vote for.

[patriot12436]

flangesqueal
You come on here and want to make comments about me and you do not know me or what i have done in life. Your commentsd mean nothing since you sit behind a computer screen and don''t have the guts to make them to my face. Time to put up or shut up, give me a place to meet you on your own turf and we will see who has the balls.

[patriot12436]

toldyouso12
I was in a locatiion outside the store where i could see the registers and what was going on i the store. When i saw the man in the store he was covering an automatic weapon in the back of his pants with his shirt. I could tell he was building the energy to rob the place by his actions, something you would know nothing about sinceyou do not have any law enforement background. The man had a weapon but he never pulled it out, there was no evidence to prove he intended to rob the store so legally i had to let him go. It takes evidence not opinions to get a conviction. I did have two guys come in armed one day with a lady. They purchased some items and left i called the police who pulled them over and found out they were licensed bodyguards and carrying weapons legally, even though you are not supposed to bring weapons into a liquor store.

[toldyouso12]

CORRECTION:


You said "if he had robbed the store" So when he came out, you let him go? Not hold him until the Police arrived? Even failed robberies are punishable. According to your post, you only would have killed him if he had robbed the store--but you were outside--what were you waiting for? A signal from A CUSTOMER that all was clear and they did not get robbed? hOW DO YOU KNOW THE MAN''S POCKETS WEREN''T FULL OF CIGARETTES OR MAD DOG OR SALTED PEANUTS AS HE LEFT?

How would you know if he robbed the store, stole something or even hurt someone if you were still outside just waiting and what was the man supposed to do while you went back in to find out--wait for you?

Posted by toldyouso12 at 07:49 AM : Jun 09, 2008

[toldyouso12]

nancynaive
I was working in a liquor store and a guy came in with a gu to rob the place. I went outside to my car and retrieved my weapon and waited for him to come out. When he realized i was not there and he didn''''t feel in contol of the situation he left, without robbing the store. If he had robbed it i would have dropped him when he walked out the door.

Posted by patriot12436 at 02:36 AM : Jun 09, 2008


Your story makes no sense logistically. If you were waiting outside for him--then you could not have known whether he robbed the place or not, when he came out. Why didn''t you just "drop him" right then?

You said "if he had robbed the store" So when he came out, you let him go? Not hold him until the Police arrived? Even failed robberies are punishable. According to your post, you only would have killed him if he had robbed the store--but you were outside--what were you waiting for? A signal from the store clerk that all was clear and they did not get robbed?

How would you know if he robbed the store, stole something or even hurt someone if you were still outside just waiting and what was the man supposed to do while you went back in to find out--wait for you?

[toldyouso12]

Well. well. well. One way or another, Japan is now beginning to emulate it''s great uncle (the US) in other ways besides baseball and rampant capitalism and cultural growth.

If one is religious, both America, Israel, Japan, Australia and England must now walk around with a distinct sense of unease, since the bible guarantees that we "reap what we sow" or for those who don''t speaketh the old way: You get back what you give out. Some think this means we will one day be attacked, bombed and occupied while the invaders claim to be heros for getting rid of our government.

I don''t think so---the same results can be achieved by turning our psychosis/neurosis against ourselves. Since 9/11, there have been more and more mass killings here not by serial killers who operate over time, but in one fell swoop. It''s like we are so riddled with evil as a society that in some it has to have an outlet. Evil is contagious, you know.

[chuegevera]

The media are exaggerating this news. I never listened to a Japanese news program in Japan without hearing somebody killed or women rapped or so on. All news here begins with crime and end with crime. It is nothing new, the only difference is that the crimes usually occur with other events (like a crime committed by a foreigner wiping them out of the news). Japan is in deep trouble: daily suicide, rape, senseless murders (father killing son, son killing sister, and so on) thefts (committed by people that are not necessarily in need of it), prostitution under the cover of model (TV station having 24/7day/week as members of their daily commentators the nude actress or *** ) but rather than trying to tackle these serious issues the Japanese and Japanese police are finding a new suspect to blame: the foreigner

[oneworldusa]

At least Japan''s court system seems to be running efficiently. Man convicted in 2001 executed in 2004. In the US, it could be 10 years or more. At taxpayer expense to fund their prison stay.

Bring back the chair, electric chair. Tired of convicted murderers complaining about how brutal their death sentences are. Thier victims got no say in how they died.

[patriot12436]

nancynaive
What is your point ? The guy shotgunned two unarmed burglars in his home. I would have shot the *** too. they were there to steal what he had worked to have. What if they had broken in when he wasn''t there and his wife or children had been home alone? Wait till you become a victim of crime then you will have walked in the victims shoes.

[patriot12436]

nancynaive
W

[patriot12436]

nancynaive
W

[patriot12436]

nancy naive
Again you are forgetting to popint out when there is a use of a weapon to commi a crime, then it is not by a law abidig citizen. When a person decides to commit a crime them they are nalbeled a criminal.

[patriot12436]

nancynaive
I was working in a liquor store and a guy came in with a gu to rob the place. I went outside to my car and retrieved my weapon and waited for him to come out. When he realized i was not there and he didn''t feel in contol of the situation he left, without robbing the store. If he had robbed it i would have dropped him when he walked out the door.

[patriot12436]

O.J. had an alibi this time. He is in jail in Las Vegas.

[patriot12436]

rheola
I was referring to someoe in the area of the crime scene not the perp who committed this crime.

[Rahy123]

As crimes are increasing , the innocent lives are in risk more and more every day, someone is mentally sick and sees only black ,so he wants to take revenge.

[rheola-2009]

Maybe 7 more people would be alive today if someone had had a gun at the scene of this crime.


Posted by patriot12436 at 07:21 PM : Jun 08, 2008

More likely 37 would have been killed if he used a gun.

[stupidrules3]

cusefanjapan,
You''re big on the idea of figuring out another way, but you offer no suggestions on what that way might be. Our government has failed miserably at stopping illegal drugs and illegal immigrants. What makes you think they can stop guns? They failed miserably at prohibiting alcohol. Any efforts they make at eliminating guns would just create a lucrative black market in guns. Everybody wants the government to solve their problems, but they fail to realize that this is impossible. We are responsible for our own safety and if we fail to take steps to preserve it, it will be gone. When you can prove to me that guns have been taken from every criminal, I will give you mine. I do not expect this will ever happen.

[ssm9451]

The story reads as though it could be an American gas station.

[feelfree4u]

Re: "Goes to show you just how chickensh*t the Tokyo police are. The guy only dropped his knife after police threatened to shoot him. OK, so if you''''re a cop, and you arrive at a scene with dead and bloodied people all around and you encounter a crazy guy holding a big knife, what do YOU do? I venture to say most American cops would drop him in his tracks, emptying their clips. And rightly so. Japan cops are total wussies."

Posted by FeelFreee4U

To any Japanese cops out there that might disagree with my impersonator, Micheal Totten, I''m sure that it would welcome your thoughts at its Website:

www.michaeltotten.com