Police investigate Japan’s worst mass killing in decades

Japanese police on Thursday continued investigating the country’s worst mass killings in decades at the facility for the disabled where 19 people were stabbed to death as the nation struggled to comprehend the motives behind the crime.

Many shocked Japan nationals were wondering why the suspected killer was discharged after just two weeks from a hospital to which he’d been forcibly committed under mental health laws and why the suspect, Satoshi Uematsu, who had written letters in February saying he would kill hundreds of handicapped people, was not kept under surveillance after he left hospital.

Yusei Shioiri, a mental health expert who has been practicing in Tokyo for 37 years, said the man was not mentally ill.

“There aren’t any clear criteria (to diagnose mental illnesses) but if the person were mentally ill, there would be many signs of irrationality and inconsistencies in the person. But what the perpetrator has said, I cannot dismiss it as ‘irrational.’ This may be an extreme statement, but there was an extent of logic to it,” he added.

“It is highly possible that he could’ve acted in a way that would quicken his discharge from the hospital, which shows that he is not the typical delusional mentally ill patient who receives treatment,” Shioiri said.

Uematsu, 26, gave himself up to police just an hour after the frenzied attack at the Tsukui Yamayuri-En facility in the sleepy town of Sagamihara, southwest of Tokyo early on Tuesday. The victims were stabbed to death and at least 25 other residents of the facility were wounded.

Nearby residents were seen offering flowers at the facility’s entrance in the midst of ongoing investigations.

On Wednesday (July 27), Uematsu was sent from a regional jail in Sagamihara to prosecutors.