Tokyo Fire Department stated that 17 passengers sustained injuries, three of them very serious. According to the fire department, not all passengers were stabbed. Most other injuries were not severe.
Police identified the attacker as Kyota Hattori (24 years old) and arrested him on the spot. He was being investigated for attempted murder, Tokyo metropolitan police said Monday.
Police said that the attacker was riding an express train heading to Tokyo’s Shinjuku station when he suddenly pulled out a knife and stabbed one of his passengers — a man in 70s — in their right chest. Police are still investigating the injuries of 16 other passengers.
According to police, he said that he wanted the death penalty and that he was going to kill people. Nippon Television reported that he also stated that he had used an older train stabbing case to illustrate his point.
According to media reports, witnesses told police that the attacker was dressed in a bright outfit, including a green shirt and blue suit, as well as a purple jacket. This is similar to the Joker villain from Batman comics.
Witnesses posted a video of the suspect sitting with his leg crossed, smoking, and presumably after the attack.
Tokyo police officers said that the attack occurred inside the Keio train, near Kokuryo station.
Television footage showed firefighters, paramedics, and police officers rescuing passengers who had escaped through train windows. One video shows passengers running away from a car that had caught fire.
NHK reported that the suspect, who had stabbed passengers, poured oil-like liquid from a plastic container and lit fire to partially burn seats.
Shunsuke, who recorded the video, said that he saw passengers running desperately and that while trying to figure what was going on, he heard an explosion and saw smoke wafting. He also fell from a window and injured his shoulder.
Kimura stated that the train doors were shut and they had no idea what was going on. Kimura added, “Train doors were locked and we didn’t know what was happening. We jumped from windows.” It was horrible.
This attack was the second to involve a knife on a Tokyo train within three months.
A 36-year old man attacked 10 commuters on a Tokyo commuter train, stabbing them in random attacks of violence. It happened just one day before the Tokyo Olympics closed. Later, the suspect told police that he wanted women who were happy to be stabbed.
Although shooting deaths in Japan are not common, there have been a number of high-profile knife murders in Japan in recent years.
A man with two knives attacked schoolgirls who were waiting for a bus outside Tokyo in 2019. He killed two and injured 17 others before he committed suicide. A knife attack on a bullet train in 2018 saw a man kill a passenger and injure two more. A former employee of a home for the handicapped killed 19 and injures more than 20 people in 2016.
