Japan: Bullet train knife attack kills one
June 10, 2018
A knife-wielding man stabbed and killed one person and injured two others on a Japanese bullet train, police said on Sunday.
The 22-year-old assailant, named by authorities as Ichiro Kojima, was arrested late Saturday after police stormed the train when it made a stop at Odawara station west of Tokyo.
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Kojima was found lying on top of an unconscious man who had a knife through his thigh, police said. The 38-year-old man was later pronounced dead from injuries to the neck.
Two women in their twenties sustained non-life threatening injuries, police said.
The stabbing took place at 10 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) and caused panic on the train carrying some 800 passengers as it traveled from Tokyo to Osaka.
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The suspected attacker told police that he had attacked the passengers, according to Odawara police official Satoshi Oiye.
Public broadcaster NHK reported that the suspect told police he felt "frustrated and wanted to kill someone." At least two knives were found at the scene of the crime.
Japan is known as one of the safest countries in the industrialized world and random violent attacks are rare.
cw/amp (AFP, AP, dpa)