Japanese Stabbing Kills 19, Wounds 25; Suspect 'Wanted Disabled People to Disappear'
Ex-employee of facility claims responsibility.
In what seems to be the worst and deadliest mass killing in Japan in recent history, 19 people were stabbed dead and 25 injured.
The perpetrator is believed to be a former employee of Tsukui Yamayuri En, a facility for the mentally ill. The suspect, according to reports, is 26 year-old Satoshi Uematsu. The police said that Eumatsu admitted to the crime and said that "it is better for disabled people [to] disappear."
Crime Timeline
Get Our Latest News for FREE
In a very short time, the suspect was able to carry out his plan. About 2:30 a.m., one of the eight staff members of the Tsukui Yamayuri En facility called the police to report the break in and alerted them of the knife attack by Uematsu.
At about 3:00 a.m., Uematsu surrendered to the Sagamihara police. As it is still early on in the investigation, it is yet unclear where the knife that was used in the attack was found as one report said that Uematsu was in possession of blood-stained knives while another report said that the police was able to recover the bag with several knives and one with bloodstains.
Upon surrendering to the police, the suspect reportedly admitted to the crime he committed.
The Tsukui Yamayuri En facility in Sagamihara is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) west from Tokyo. The facility houses 149 permanent residents.
Reason for the Crime
Earlier, reports said that Uematsu was upset because he was fired from the facililty where he worked until February 2016.
According to the statement given by a facility staff, the suspect allegedly smashed a window using a hammer and used it as his point of entry and began his stabbing rampage that injured 25, 20 of which are in serious condition. Uematsu was also reported to live near the facility.
Japan may have stringent gun laws, but poisoning and mass stabbings are quite a common occurrence. The country is considered as one of the safest countries in the world.
Sagamihara was also the location of the arrest of a member of the Japanese doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, who terrorized the Tokyo subway in the 1995 nerve gas attack that killed 13 and injured more than 5,500. The same cult killed seven people and downed 200 more in a sarin gas attack the year before.
