Kawasaki stabbings

The Kawasaki stabbings (川崎殺傷事件, Kawasaki Sasshō Jiken) occurred on the morning of 28 May 2019 in the Tama ward of Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, four blocks west of Noborito Station.[4] Two people were murdered,[5] and 18 others were injured after being stabbed at a city bus stop by 51-year-old Ryuichi Iwasaki (岩崎隆一 Iwasaki Ryūichi).[2][6] After carrying out the attack, he committed suicide by stabbing himself in the neck.[7][5][1]

Kawasaki stabbings
Makeshift memorial for the victims
Kawasaki stabbings (Kanagawa Prefecture)
Kawasaki stabbings (Japan)
Location of the Kawasaki stabbings within Kanagawa Prefecture
LocationKawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Coordinates35°37′19.8″N 139°33′57.7″E
Date28 May 2019 (2019-05-28)
7:44 a.m. (JST)
Attack type
Mass stabbing, murder-suicide
Weapons
Deaths3 (including the perpetrator)[1]
Injured18[2]
PerpetratorRyuichi Iwasaki[3]

Incident

Kawasaki city fire department said it received an emergency call at 7:44 a.m. JST,[8] and responded to an incident in which a man attacked students waiting at a bus stop with yanagi ba, long and thin knives used in Japanese cuisine to prepare sashimi and nigiri sushi, in both hands.[9][10] The students targeted were identified by the NHK public broadcaster as all being girls.[11] A bus driver who witnessed the attack claimed that they saw the man holding two knives and he had walked towards the bus before stabbing the children. Authorities told reporters the man attacked people randomly as they lined up to enter the bus.[12]

The Kawasaki Fire Department reported that sixteen elementary school students from Caritas Elementary School, a private Catholic school,[13] and three adults were injured in the attack, separately from the suspect.[8]

Perpetrator

Ryuichi Iwasaki, a 51-year-old man suspected of carrying out the attack, was believed to be a resident of Kawasaki's Asao ward.[14] He was found lying on the ground of the scene, bleeding from a self-inflicted stab wound to the neck. The two 30 centimetres (12 in) bloodied sashimi knives were found nearby, and two more knives, a 25 centimetres (9.8 in) all-purpose knife and a 20 centimetres (7.9 in) sashimi bōchō were found in a backpack that had been in his possession and dropped at a nearby FamilyMart.[15] The suspect was transported to a local hospital, where he was declared dead.[14][16]

Iwasaki was an unemployed hikikomori, which is someone who takes withdrawing from society to an extreme. He was living in his elderly uncle's home. Before the incident, he had a dispute with his neighbors but would not talk with his uncle about what had happened.[17]

Victims

The deceased were identified as Hanako Kuribayashi, an 11-year-old student, and Satoshi Oyama, a 39-year-old Foreign Ministry employee who worked primarily as a diplomat to Myanmar.[18][19]

They were declared dead at Musashi Kosugi Hospital. Some survivors were also treated at this hospital, as well at St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki Municipal Tama Hospital, and Shin-Yurigaoka General Hospital.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Child among three dead in Japan knife attack". BBC News. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. "3万円近い高額の包丁を購入か 川崎20人殺傷事件". テレ朝news (in Japanese). tv asahi. ANN. 31 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  3. The Japan Times
  4. "15 stabbed in Kawasaki City". NHK World. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  5. "Two feared dead, 17 hurt after Japan mass stabbing". Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  6. "川崎殺傷１週間、発生時刻に多くの人が冥福祈る". 読売新聞オンライン (in Japanese). The Yomiuri Shimbun. 4 June 2019. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  7. "Thirteen schoolgirls among those wounded in Japan stabbing: Kyodo". Reuters. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  8. Wakatsuki, Yoko; Ogura, Junko (28 May 2019). "Two killed including girl, 12, in Japan stabbing spree". CNN. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  9. "Kawasaki stabbing rampage leaves three dead, including schoolgirl and suspect; 16 injured". The Japan Times. 28 May 2019. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  10. "包丁４本所持、計画的か＝小学生ら１９人刺される－２人死亡、確保の男も・川崎". Jiji Press (in Japanese). 28 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  11. Rich, Motoko; Ueno, Hisako (27 May 2019). "16 People, Including 13 Children, Stabbed in Japan Knife Attack". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  12. Yamaguchi, Mari (27 May 2019). "Japan stabbing: Schoolchildren, adults stabbed in Kawasaki City attack". New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  13. Leung, Hillary (27 May 2019). "Knife Attack in Japan Leaves One Dead, 15 Wounded". Time. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  14. "Stabbing spree near Tokyo leaves 2 victims and suspect dead, 14 injured". Mainichi Daily News. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  15. "包丁４本、事前に購入か＝動機示す品未発見－ポケットに１０万円・川崎襲撃". Jiji Press (in Japanese). 30 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  16. McCurry, Justin (28 May 2019). "Japan mass stabbing: schoolgirl killed and 16 injured in attack in Kawasaki". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  17. "川崎で児童ら刺される". Jiji Press (in Japanese). May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  18. "Girl, man die after knife attack in Kawasaki; suspect kills self：The Asahi Shimbun". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  19. "自民・岸田氏「痛恨の極み」　亡くなった小山さん悼む". The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 29 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
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