Tokyo – Japanese Gangster Goes On Stabbing Spree, 7 Dead Several Injured

At least seven people were killed in a stabbing frenzy on Sunday in a crowded part of Tokyo, the TBS television network said, quoting police sources.

A reported Japanese gangster went on a midday stabbing rampage in Tokyo’s premier electronics and video game district Sunday, knifing at least 14 people. A news report said at least seven of the victims were dead.

The attack at lunchtime in the Akihabara district, known as Electric Town and wildly popular with Japan’s cyber-wise youth, paralyzed the area and drew at least 17 ambulances. TV footage showed rescue workers tending to victims in the street.

Reports said the attacker grunted and roared as he slashed and stabbed at his victims on a street crowded with shoppers.

Toshiyuki Miyake, a spokesman for the Tokyo Fire Department, said that five of the victims had gone into cardiac arrest, but he could not confirm any deaths.

Police apprehended a suspect, and news reports said he was a 25-year-old self-proclaimed gangster. NHK identified him as Tomohiro Kato, but no motive was known.

Once rare, stabbing attacks have become more frequent in Japan in recent years as violent crime has increased. In one of the worst attacks, a man with a history of mental illness burst into an elementary school in Japan in 2001 and killed eight children. The killer was executed in 2004.

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