Two people, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed and 16 other children hurt in a stabbing spree in Japan on Tuesday – a rare act of public violence in a country considered one of the safest in the world.
The attack took place near a park in the city of Kawasaki, about 13 miles (21 kilometers) from Tokyo, authorities said. The Kawasaki Fire Department earlier reported that 16 elementary school students and three adults were injured.
Victims were taken to four different hospitals. A spokesperson at the Nippon Medical School Musashikosugi Hospital confirmed the young girl and a 39-year-old man died. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the attack was “heartbreaking.”
“We must keep our children safe at all costs,” Abe told reporters. “I’ve instructed the related ministers to take immediate action to ensure the children’s safety in going to and leaving school.” The suspected attacker also died from a “self-inflicted wound,” Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. Police officers previously told NHK that the man, believed to be in his 40s or 50s, had stabbed himself in the neck.
NHK reported earlier Tuesday that three people – including an elementary school student — were in critical condition. It’s unclear if the girl who died was among them. Japan is considered one of the world’s safest developed countries. It boasts one of the world’s lowest homicide rates, according to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime.
Mass stabbings are extremely rare in the country. In 2016, 19 people were killed in a stabbing spree at a care home for disabled people — the deadliest mass killing in Japan since the end of World War II. Japan also strictly regulates weapons, and it’s illegal for people to carry a pocket knife, craft knife, hunting knife or box cutter in public, according to the US State Department.
The Tuesday incident took place during US President Donald Trump’s visit to the country. Speaking aboard a Japanese helicopter carrier, Trump said the American people grieved for the victims’ families.
Photo Credit: Getty
