A man dressed in the garish colors of the Joker stabbed at least 17 people and set a train on fire in a shocking Halloween terrorist attack in Tokyo, Japan.
NHK News noted that the assailant, believed to be in his 20s, was arrested. One of his victims, a man in his 60s, is unconscious and in critical condition after the stabbing. No fatalities have been disclosed.
“I thought it was a Halloween stunt,” one witness told reporters. “Then I saw a man walking this way slowly waving a long knife,” which was covered in blood.
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While police have not announced a motive, according to the New York Post, local outlets have reported that the terrorist “wanted to kill people so he could be sentenced to death.”
The man reportedly lit the fire by emptying a flammable liquid into a train car. Cell phone footage posted on social media showed riders fleeing the growing blaze and escaping out of windows. Afterwards, the assailant sat down and smoked a cigarette as he waited for police, still wearing the purple and green outfit of the Batman villain. If you’d like, you can peruse some of the footage below.
This is the second mass-stabbing in Tokyo this year. Last August, as the Tokyo Olympics were coming to a close, a 36-year-old man stabbed 10 passengers on a different commuter train. It’s one of a number of high-profile, gun-free terrorist attacks from the last few months. On October 13th, metal musician Andrea Meyer was one of five victims killed in a bow-and-arrow terrorist attack in Norway.
京王線社内で火災発生 pic.twitter.com/94cLtJkDy4
Advertisement— しずくβ (@siz33) October 31, 2021
京王線火災で逃げる人々 pic.twitter.com/ZfN1pD0C2V
— しずくβ (@siz33) October 31, 2021
🚨 | NEW: The alleged attacker in Japan, in a “Joker” costume. Sitting and casually smoking after stabbing and spraying hydrochloric acid on passengers on a train in Tokyo, and then setting everything on fire
— News For All (@NewsForAllUK) October 31, 2021
