7 dead in Tokyo stabbing spree

[Flashermac]

TOKYO - A man who police said "was tired of life" drove into a crowd of pedestrians Sunday and then went on a stabbing rampage in Tokyo's premier electronics and video game district, killing seven people and wounding 10, authorities said.

 

The deadly lunchtime assault happened in Akihabara district after the attacker drove a rented two-ton truck into a crowd, running over three people, public broadcaster NHK quoted an unidentified witness as saying.

 

News reports said the man jumped out of the truck and began stabbing the people he'd knocked down, then turned on horrified onlookers. The attacker grunted and roared as he slashed and stabbed at his victims on a street crowded with Sunday shoppers, reports said.

 

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

 

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

 

Police said they arrested Tomohiro Kato, 25, at the scene.

 

"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."

 

 

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[Old Hippie]

I'm guessing it was one of those "High tech military assault knives" why they don't ban them I'll never know! KNIFE CONTROL NOW!!!!

 

Of course the real irony is, if someone had a gun, they could have stopped him...ok that should get it all rolling...

[cavanami]

In Japan, there are police on every corner but they are more of a tourist info center.

 

Can't remember if the police on the street even carry guns, maybe not?

[Julian2]

And why should they? Could you stop a truck with a gun?

Why do people who are tired of life insist on taking people who aren't, with them?

[Faustian]

Because he's clearly insane and not tired of life at all...just incredibly selfish and psychotic...a lot of folks are tired of life but they don't do this!

[drogon]

If I was really tired of life I would simply kill myself.

 

Seems that this scumbag did not understand that

[cavanami]

I have been in Akihabara dozens of times.

 

You just don't expect these things to happen in Japan, but they do.

[Torneyboy]

We will never know ..just so sad ..

[Bangkoktraveler]

I am with Old hippie, they got to ban knives. If a person had a handgun, let's say a 40 calibre, they could have stopped the truck without hitting the driver. If they wanted to take out the driver, not that big of a deal. As I have said, it should not be a crime to defend yourself. I can imagine how hopeless these people felt.

[JayT]

I am with Old hippie, they got to ban knives.

 

Could be going that way:

 

Knife attacker put warnings on internet

 

By Jay Alabaster, Associated Press Writer

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

 

Japan struggled to make sense yesterday of the stabbing rampage that killed seven people at the centre of Tokyo's comic book and "anime" youth culture, as local reports uncovered messages showing the troubled attacker detailed his plan in advance on the Internet.

 

Police arrested blood-splattered 25-year-old Tomohiro Kato, a temporary worker at a factory outside Tokyo, and media reports and Internet sites buzzed with a series of messages he allegedly posted to an electronic bulletin board via cell phone in the hours before the slaughter.

 

In a message thread titled, "I will kill people in Akihabara," Kato allegedly wrote: "I want to crash the vehicle and, if it becomes useless, I will then use a knife. Goodbye, everyone," the reports in newspapers and national broadcaster NHK said.

 

--> The government vowed to impose greater controls on access and possession of large knives like the one used on Sunday, while taking steps to provide better security for crowded public places.

 

Kato, like many Japanese young people, shared this fascination with anime. In a page from his junior high school yearbook published by Yomiuri newspaper Monday, he had made a drawing of his favorite video game character holding a dagger. He wrote in English, "Personality Crooked," the report said.

 

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