TOKYO (AFP) - – An unemployed man armed with a kitchen knife
went on a rampage on two packed buses Friday in Japan leaving 14
people wounded, mostly teenage school children, before passengers
overpowered him.
Police said they had arrested 27-year-old Yuta Saito on charges
of attempted murder after the morning rush hour attacks outside
Toride railway station, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of
Tokyo.
"The suspect got onto the buses and wielded a knife and slashed
passengers," said a local police spokesman after the bloody attack
with what media reports said was a 25-centimetre (10-inch) kitchen
knife.
Passengers subdued the attacker, who also sustained some
injuries.
"I wanted to end my life," he was later quoted as saying by
broadcaster NHK.
The knife attack in a country where violent crime is rare evoked
memories of a far bloodier stabbing spree in 2008 when a man killed
seven people in Tokyo, running over three with a truck and stabbing
four to death.
Friday morning's attacks left 14 people wounded, none with
life-threatening injuries. Among the victims were eight high school
students, four junior high school students and two women aged 49
and 59, reports said.
The man slashed at least five of his victims, a local fire
department official said, while the rest were hurt when he punched
them or as they stampeded to flee the attack.
"People screamed: 'Run. A man with a knife is getting in.' I was
scared, so scared," said one woman, speaking on television.
Another woman said: "There was an uproar. High school students
were running out and I saw a schoolboy bleeding from his
forehead."
The driver of the first bus that was attacked told NHK: "There
were some 50 passengers on the bus when the man entered.
"First, I thought it was a fight among students. But then I
heard a scream and I thought this isn't normal. I saw the man
wielding a knife, and I quickly opened the door to let the students
flee. That's all I could do."
The attacks stunned the local community in Ibaraki
prefecture.
"It's an unforgivable act," said Kenji Takezawa, deputy
principal of Edogawa Gakuen school, some of whose students were
among the victims.
"We gathered our students in our hall and told them to stay
calm," he said, adding that all afternoon classes were
cancelled.
The National Police Agency said this week that the number of
criminal cases detected by police in 2010 looks set to total below
1.6 million for the first time in 23 years, Kyodo News
reported.
Murders, attempted murders and conspiracy to murder are on track
to hit a new post-war low this year, with 988 cases reported by the
end of November, down 2.8 percent from last year, the report
said.
Source:
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20101217/tap-japan-crime-knife-d1078a1.html