This browser does not support the Video element.
Emergency Services at Tokyo Train Station After Several Injured in Knife Attack
A man who attacked and injured several passengers before lighting a fire on a Tokyo train on October 31, was arrested, local media citing police said.(Credit: こばやん / Kobayan via Storyful)
TOKYO - A man dressed in Batman’s Joker costume and brandishing a knife on a Tokyo commuter train on Sunday stabbed several passengers before starting a fire, which sent people scrambling to escape and jumping from windows, police and witnesses said.
The Tokyo Fire Department said 17 passengers were injured, including three seriously. Not all of them were stabbed and most of the other injuries were not serious, the agency said.
The attacker, identified as a 24-year-old man, was arrested on the spot and was being investigated on suspicion of attempted murder, NHK said. His motive was not immediately known.
RELATED: SUV with 5-year-old boy inside stolen near Capitol Hill
Nippon Television reported that the suspect told police that he wanted to kill and get the death penalty, and that he used an earlier train stabbing case as an example.
Witnesses told police that the attacker was wearing a bright outfit — a green shirt, a blue suit and a purple coat — like the Joker in Batman comics or someone going to a Halloween event, according to media reports.
Tokyo police officials said the attack happened inside the Keio train near the Kokuryo station.
Television footage showed a number of firefighters, police officials and paramedics rescuing the passengers, many of whom escaped through train windows. In one video, passengers were running from another car, where flames were gushing.
This browser does not support the Video element.
British lawmaker David Amess fatally stabbed at church meeting
Sir David Amess, a member of British Parliament, was stabbed to death while attending a meeting with constituents at a church in eastern England. The 69-year-old conservative MP was attacked by a 25-year-old man who was later taken into custody on suspicion of murder. A motive for the attack was not initially released.
RELATED: Threats to Northern Virginia malls, shopping centers could be activated ISIS cell: military source
NHK said the suspect, after stabbing passengers, poured a liquid resembling oil from a plastic bottle and set fire, which partially burned seats.
Shunsuke Kimura, who filmed the video, told NHK that he saw passengers desperately running and while he was trying to figure out what happened, he heard an explosive noise and saw smoke wafting. He also jumped from a window but fell on the platform and hurt his shoulder.
"Train doors were closed and we had no idea what was happening, and we jumped from the windows," Kimura said. "It was horrifying."
The attack was the second involving a knife on a Tokyo train in two months.
In August, the day before the Tokyo Olympics closing ceremony, a 36-year-old man stabbed 10 passengers on a commuter train in Tokyo in a random burst of violence. The suspect later told police that he wanted to attack women who looked happy.
While shooting deaths are rare in Japan, the country has had a series of high-profile knife killings 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 killed 19 people and injured more than 20.