Knife-wielding man stabs 19 people to death in Japan

A knife-wielding man who gained entry into a facility for the disabled in Japan went on a stabbing spree killing 19 people and injuring another 20 in the process.

Reports say the assailant who was a former employee of the facility for disabled people was later disarmed and arrested after a distress call was put through to the police from an employee at the Tsukui Yamayuri-En facility in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, who informed police operatives that “something terrible was taking place”.

Read also: Police say Munich attacker was ‘obsessed’ with mass killing

The 26-year-old suspect was quoted by police as saying: “I want to get rid of the disabled from this world,” Japanese media reported.

The Sagamihara City fire department informed that 19 people were confirmed dead in the attack. The fire department said doctors at the scene confirmed the deaths.

“It’s very rare that we come across this kind of violence on this scale,” journalist Michael Penn, who is based in Japan, told Al Jazeera. “It’s a very, very serious and very large-scale incident here.”

RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now