What we know so far
- Nineteen people have been killed and up to 26 injured after a mass stabbing attack at a facility for disabled people in Japan.
- Nine women and 10 men aged between 18 and 70 were among the dead, making this the worst mass killing in the country since the second world war.
- The suspect has been identified as Satoshi Uematsu, a 26-year-old former employee at the Tsukui Yamayuri En (Tsukui Lily Garden) facility in Sagamihara in Kanagawa prefecture, about 40km southwest of Tokyo. He left his job in February.
- Uematsu was also reportedly “involuntarily hospitalised” in February after he tried to give a letter to a Japanese politician calling for euthanasia for disabled people, and saying he would be prepared to kill disabled people himself.
- Broadcaster NTV quoted the letter as saying:
My goal is a world in which, in cases where it is difficult for the severely disabled to live at home and be socially active, they can be euthanised with the consent of their guardians.
- He was discharged from hospital in March.
- After apparently breaking into the care facility at around 2.10am local time on Tuesday to carry out the mass stabbing, the suspect handed himself in to police. He has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and trespassing. An official from the Kanagawa prefecture said:
When Uematsu turned himself in, he was found carrying kitchen knives and other types of knives stained with blood.
- The wounded have been taken to at least six hospitals in western Tokyo. Many are said to be in a serious condition.
- The Tsukui Yamayuri En (Tsukui Lily Garden) facility is home to 149 residents aged between 18 and 75, and cares for people with a wide range of disabilities.
- Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said there was no information to suggest any link between the attack and Islamist extremism.
- In a statement, the White House offered condolences:
There is never any excuse for such violence, but the fact that this attack occurred at a facility for persons with disabilities makes it all the more repugnant and senseless.
You can read the latest report from our correspondent Justin McCurry in Japan here:
Updated
Suspect involuntarily hospitalised after saying he would kill disabled people
Satoshi Uematsu, the man arrested in connection with the mass stabbing that has left 19 people dead and up to 26 wounded, was hospitalised earlier this year after he said he would kill disabled people, a city official has told Reuters.
Authorities said Uematsu had been “involuntarily committed” to hospital on 19 February, after police in the town of Tsukui near Tokyo contacted him in response to a letter he had attempted to pass to the speaker of the lower house of Japan’s parliament.
In the letter, Uematsu reportedly argued that the government should permit euthanasia for disabled people, and said he would be willing to carry out such killings himself.
He was released from hospital on 2 March.
A disturbing line from Japanese broadcaster NTV, via Reuters, suggests the arrested suspect, Satoshi Uematsu, had advocated euthanasia for disabled people:
Broadcaster NTV reported that the arrested man presented a letter to the speaker of the lower house of Japan’s parliament in February calling for euthanasia of disabled people.
It quoted the letter as saying:
My goal is a world in which, in cases where it is difficult for the severely disabled to live at home and be socially active, they can be euthanised with the consent of their guardians.
At a news conference in Yokohama, Shinya Sakuma, an official from the Kanagawa prefecture, said the suspect, Satoshi Uematsu, had handed himself in at a police station with the murder weapons.
[Uematsu] broke a glass window and intruded into the facility at about 2.10am and stabbed those staying there.
When Uematsu turned himself in, he was found carrying kitchen knives and other types of knives stained with blood.
There has been no suggestion that the attack was fuelled by Islamist extremism, but officials have now confirmed that this is not a motive they are considering.
Reuters reports:
Japan’s top government spokesman said on Tuesday he had been told that 19 people were dead after an attack by a knife-wielding man at a facility for the disabled in central Japan.
Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga also told a news conference that police had not obtained any information to suggest there was a link between the attack and Islamist extremism.
Officials in Kanagawa prefecture say the suspect, identified as Satoshi Uematsu, had worked at the Tsukui Yamayuri En facility until February.
Japanese broadcaster NTV has reported that Uematsu was upset because he had been fired, but that has not been independently confirmed.
The confirmation that 19 people have been killed could make this the worst mass killing in Japan since the second world war.
Japan stabbing update: There were nine women and 10 men among the dead, ranging in age from 18 to 70, according to the local fire dept
— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) July 26, 2016
From the US, the White House has offered its condolences to Japan:
The United States offers our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in the heinous attack today in Sagamihara, Japan.
We also pray for the speedy recovery of the dozens of individuals who were wounded.
There is never any excuse for such violence, but the fact that this attack occurred at a facility for persons with disabilities makes it all the more repugnant and senseless.
The thoughts of the American people are with our Japanese friends as they mourn the lives lost.
Suspect named as Satoshi Uematsu
Local government officials have now confirmed that the suspect in the knife attack is Satoshi Uematsu.
Associated Press reports:
A Kanagawa prefecture official told a news conference that Uematsu entered the building about 2.10 a.m. by breaking a glass window on the first floor of a residential building at the facility for disabled people.
Shinya Sakuma, head of prefectural health and welfare division, said Uematsu had worked at the facility until February. Japanese media reports said he is 26 years old.
The Sagamihara fire department has said 19 people were killed in the attack Tuesday morning.
Updated
What we know so far
- At least 19 people have been killed and another 26 injured after a mass stabbing attack at a facility for disabled people in Japan.
- A man named by local media as 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu handed himself in to police after the attack, which took place around 2.30am local time.
- He has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and trespassing.
- Uematsu is believed to be a former employee at the care centre in Sagamihara in Kanagawa prefecture, about 40km southwest of Tokyo.
- The wounded have been taken to at least six hospitals in western Tokyo. Many are said to be in a serious condition.
- The Tsukui Yamayuri En (Tsukui Lily Garden) facility is home to 149 residents aged between 19 and 75, and cares for people with a wide range of disabilities.
- A motive for the massacre is not clear, but media including the New York Times have quoted the suspect as having said disabled people should “disappear”.
Updated
More from the Associated Press:
A woman who lives across from the facility told Japanese broadcaster NHK that she saw police cars enter the facility around 3:30 a.m.
“I was told by a policeman to stay inside my house, as it could be dangerous,” she said. “Then ambulances began arriving, and blood-covered people were taken away.”
NHK reported the suspect, 26, is a former employee at the facility, Tsukui Yamayuri-en. Another broadcaster, NTV, said he broke into the facility by smashing a window with a hammer, and that he was upset because he had been fired, but that could not be independently confirmed.
The facility is home to 149 residents aged between 19 and 75. Kyodo news agency said 40 of them are older than 60.
Local residents and relatives of the people living in the facility rushed to the scene following news of the attack but are reportedly waiting for local officials to release the names of the dead and injured, local media said.
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The Tsukui Yamayuri Garden facility is a 7.6-acre residential care center built in woodland on the bank of the Sagami river, according to Reuters. It was established by the local government, according to NHK, and cares for people with a wide range of disabilities.
It has a maximum capacity of 150 people, according to Kyodo.
Updated
Ambulance crews seen working outside the facility this morning:
NHK reports that the suspect had “a number of sharp weapons in his bag, a number of them bloodstained” when he was taken into custody.
It’s believed he used a hammer to break a window into one of the facility’s residential buildings to get in.
Death toll increases to 19
Kyodo News is reporting that four more people have been declared dead by authorities following the stabbing attack on a facility providing care for disabled people in Sagamihara, about 40km southwest of Tokyo.
The Associated Press is now reporting that police have said the suspect turned himself in “about two hours” after the 2.30am call to police from the facility in which an employee said “something horrible is happening”.
Some historical context, also from the Associated Press:
Mass killings are relatively rare in Japan, which has extremely strict gun-control laws. In 2008, seven people were killed by a man who slammed a truck into a crowd of people in central Tokyo’s Akihabara electronics district and then stabbed passers-by.
Fourteen were injured in 2010 by an unemployed man who stabbed and beat up passengers on two public buses outside a Japanese train station in Ibaraki Prefecture, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north-east of Tokyo.
Updated
Estimates for the number of dead and injured victims of this attack remain fluid at this point.
NHK is now reporting 15 dead and “about 20” injured, while Asahi Shimbun is reporting that 19 people are feared dead with “as many as 24” more injured.
Kyodo News is now reporting at least 15 killed and 28 wounded, but that latter figure appears to include four who firefighters said displayed “no vital signs”.
The timeline of events is still fairly murky.
Asahi Shimbun says that staff called police “with reports of a man armed with a knife” on the grounds of the facility at 2.30am local time, and NHK says that the alleged attacker turned himself in at the local police station “just after 3am”.
Tsukui police station is a 15-minute drive from the Tsukui Yamayuri Garden facility, which means either that the attack took place extremely quickly or was already well underway when the emergency services were called.
Updated
The motive for the attack remains unclear at this point.
According to the newspaper Asahi Shimbun, the suspect was quoted by police as saying “I want to get rid of the disabled from this world,” and other outlets including the New York Times have quoted him as saying that disabled people should “disappear”.
In this aerial view, emergency service vehicles can be seen lined up outside the Tsukui Yamayuri Garden facility in Sagamihara, outside Tokyo, where the attack took place.
Updated
A resident of the area, located in a mountain valley south of Mount Takao, told NHK that police had arrested a man with blond hair dressed in black clothes.
The facility provides accommodations and daycare services for people with disabilities and has a swimming pool, gym and medical clinic, according to Kyodo News.
Updated
The alleged perpetrator of the attack is being named by the news agency Kyodo as 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu, who reportedly handed himself in to police after the attack.
He was immediately arrested and charged, according to NHK, who report that he told police that he was a former employee of the centre, which provides care to disabled people.
Exact numbers for the dead and injured are still unclear. According to Japan’s state broadcaster NHK, the death toll stands at 15, with the number of injured rising to 45.
The Tokyo-based news agency Kyodo News is reporting that local firefighters responding to the scene told them that four of the injured “showed no vital signs”.
Police were called at 2.30am local time, Kyodo reports.
Updated
At least 15 people are dead and 20 others injured in a stabbing attack at a facility for disabled people in Sagamihara, outside Tokyo, in the worst mass killing to strike Japan in decades.
Other news agencies are reporting that the death toll could be as high as 19.
A 26-year-old man turned himself in following the attack, according to the Japanese state broadcaster NHK. Police said that the man was a former employee of the facility.
Our correspondent Justin McCurry in Tokyo will be bringing us updates as they come.
Updated
