On the evening of October 31, a train in Tokyo, Japan, injured and set fire to a knife that injured 17 people. At present, the suspect has been arrested by the police, and he confessed that he "wants to kill people and asks for the death penalty" and "likes the villain Joker in Batman". The Japanese government denounced the incident as "brutal and barbaric."
Swing a knife and slash at the surrounding passengers
The attack took place in Chofu City, Tokyo, on the night of Halloween Night. At about 20:00 local time on October 31, a man on a train on the Keio Line in Tokyo suddenly slashed at the surrounding passengers with a knife, and also spilled unknown liquid and set fire to the carriage.
The assailant man on the train wears the costume of a clown character
Photos and videos posted by witnesses on social media showed the assailant at the scene, dressed in a green shirt and purple suit that appeared to be the costume of a clown character, brandishing something that looked like a kitchen knife as he walked through the carriage and holding a plastic bottle in the other hand.
The incident caused panic among passengers, with some scrambling to escape from train windows, screams could be heard, and others shouting "Run."
There was a fire inside the carriage
Passengers escape from train windows
A man, some 70 years old, was stabbed in the chest and was severely injured and unconscious. Another 16 victims, aged between their teens and 60s, were taken to hospital for treatment for inhaling smoke, etc.
The murder knife is purchased online
The suspect has been arrested by the police on suspicion of attempted murder. Police revealed that the suspect, Kyota Hattori, is 24 years old and unemployed. The suspects said he was sentenced to death for attempting murder by a knife wound in August.
Police said suspect Hattori came to Tokyo's Shibuya district about two hours before the incident, a hotspot for costume parties celebrating Halloween.
Police found a knife about 30 centimeters long, several plastic bottles suspected of containing lighter oil and an aerosol can in the train compartment. Hattori confessed that the knife was purchased online.
Police and rescue workers went to the scene of the incident to deal with it.
According to the police, Hattori initially boarded the train at Shibuya Station on the Keio Inokashira Line, then entered the express train in the 8th car of the main number, stabbed the man in his 70s sitting on the seat, and went to the 6th car to pour liquid and then ignite, the seat burned and burned, and the carriage was filled with smoke. After that, he went to the 9th car and was controlled by the police.
Hattori confessed that he believed that killing more than 2 people would result in the death penalty, and that he had been "thinking about being sentenced to death" since around June this year.
Self-confessed "failure at work and dating"
A male passenger about a meter away from Hattori said in an interview afterwards that the knife the suspect was holding appeared to be stained with blood. "I thought it was a Halloween prank."
Another passenger said: "I saw a woman crying and trembling and I thought I was going to die, which reminded me of the Sarin gas attack of Aum Shinrikyo. "The 1995 attack on the Tokyo subway system by Aum Shinrikyo, which the Japanese government identified as a cult, killed 14 people and injured more than 6,000 others.
Hattori told police he "regretted not being able to kill anyone in the attack". He also said that he "failed in his career, had problems with his relationship with friends, and wanted to die but did not dare to commit suicide."
Hattori admits that he idolizes the villain Joker from the Marvel movie Batman, who is Batman's nemesis and is considered one of the most notorious psychopaths in comic book history.
Fire and rescue vehicles gathered outside the train station
There have been a number of recent attacks in Tokyo
After the attack, Japan's Ministry of Transport asked all railway companies to be vigilant to ensure safety.
On November 1, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, described the incident as "brutal and barbaric."
Recently, there have been multiple attacks on trains and stations in the Tokyo area.
In August this year, several people were injured by a knife on a train in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo. On October 15, two men were stabbed by a man at Ueno Station.
Nandu reporter Shi Minglei