2 killed, 15 schoolgirls injured in Japan stabbing spree

2 killed, 15 schoolgirls injured in Japan stabbing spree

Two people, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed and at least 15 other children hurt in a stabbing spree in Japan on Tuesday.

According to the authorities, the deadly attack took place near a park in the city of Kawasaki, about 13 miles (21 kilometers) from Tokyo.

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.

The Kawasaki Fire Department had earlier reported that 16 elementary school students and three adults were injured. “It was a horrifying incident,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

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. In this case, it was a rare act of public violence in the country.

Mass stabbings are extremely rare. 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.

The country 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.

 

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JAPAN Injured spree killed stabbing attackers country deadly knives safest suspected weapons

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