'Murder mission' man kills 7 in knife frenzy

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-9  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A JAPANESE man plowed into pedestrians with a truck in a crowded Tokyo area yesterday and then stabbed 17 people in three minutes, killing at least seven in a grisly attack that shocked Japan.

Police described the man as being on a murder mission.

The lunchtime assault - on the anniversary of a mass stabbing in Japan in 2001 - sent thousands of pedestrians into a panic in Tokyo's crowded Akihabara district, an electronics and video game area popular with young people.

A 25-year-old man, Tomohiro Kato, was arrested with blood on his face.

Police said Kato provided no motive for the attack - other than he wanted to murder strangers.

"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. Kato jumped out and began stabbing the people he'd knocked down with the truck, then turned on horrified onlookers, police said.

Police confirmed seven deaths - six men and one woman - but could not say whether the victims had died of injuries from the truck or from stab wounds.

Witnesses said the attacker grunted and roared as he slashed and stabbed at shoppers crowding a street of 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 male witness told public broadcaster NHK.

Another witness said the suspect dropped his knife after police threatened to shoot him. Amateur video filmed by a mobile phone showed policemen overpowering the bespectacled, bloodied suspect.

The attack paralyzed the district and sent thousands of shoppers into a panic. Amateur video taken five minutes after the rampage showed shoppers helping victims and a man screaming for help.

At least 17 ambulances rushed to the scene, and rescue workers tended to victims in the blood-soaked street.

As night fell on Akihabara, several pedestrians stopped by and prayed at the scene. A bouquet, bottles of green tea and incense sticks were placed at the site.

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 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 on June 9, 2001, and killed eight children. He was executed in 2004.