Tokyo train stabbing leaves 10 injured, suspect in custody
TOKYO - A man with a knife stabbed at least 10 passengers on a commuter train in Tokyo on Friday and was captured by police after fleeing, fire department officials and news reports said.
NHK public television said one passenger was seriously injured. It said the suspect left his knife behind as he fled and later gave himself up at a convenience store. The Japanese capital is currently hosting the Olympics, which end Sunday.
The Tokyo Fire Department said nine of the 10 injured passengers were taken to nearby hospitals, while the tenth was able to walk away. All of those injured were conscious, fire department officials said.
A witness at a nearby station where the train stopped said passengers were rushing out of the carriages and shouting that there was a stabbing and asking for first aid. Another witness told NHK that he saw passengers smeared with blood come out of the train, as an announcer asked for doctors and for passengers carrying towels.
FILE - Subway lines of Tokyo. Daily life in Tokyo, Japan on Sept. 25, 2019.
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Dozens of paramedics and police arrived at the station, one of the witnesses said.
NHK said the suspect later walked into a convenience store and identified himself as the suspect on the news and said he was tired of running away. The store manager called police after seeing bloodstains on the man’s shirt. Police were questioning the man as they prepared his arrest, NHK said.
The stabbing occurred near Seijogakuen station, according to railway operator Odakyu Electric Railway Co.
Police declined to comment and no other details were immediately available.
While shooting deaths are rare in Japan, the country has had a series of high-profile killings with knives in recent years.
In 2019, a man carrying two knives attacked a group of schoolgirls waiting at a bus stop just outside Tokyo, killing two people and injuring 17 before killing himself. In 2018, a man killed a passenger and injuring two others in a knife attack on a bullet train. In 2016, a former employee at a home for the disabled allegedly killed 19 people and injured more than 20.
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AP journalist Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.