Japan Knife Attack at Facility for Disabled Kills at Least 19 The attack is one of the worst mass murders in Japan in recent decades By Eleanor Warnock and Mitsuru Obe
http://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-attack-at-facility-for-disabled-kills-at-least-15-1469483154
SAGAMIHARA, Japan—A man broke into a residence for disabled adults outside Tokyo early Tuesday morning and stabbed to death 19 people, authorities said, one of the worst mass murders in recent decades in a country known for its low crime rate.Officials at the facility described the 26-year-old suspect, Satoshi Uematsu, as a troubled former employee who quit in February of this year after being warned to stop making abusive comments about the severely disabled people living thereThey said Mr. Uematsu broke a window in the middle of the night to gain entrance to the home, then tied up some of the caregivers before attacking dozens of residents with a knife.
Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Mr. Uematsu surrendered himself to police shortly afterward and was arrested. Footage from a security camera aired on local television showed a person who appeared to be Mr. Uematsu returning to his car parked outside the home at about 2:50 a.m. and driving off. Public broadcaster NHK said Mr. Uematsu drove to a nearby police station to turn himself in.
Mr. Uematsu appears to have given a warning that he planned to kill disabled people.
A Japanese parliament official said a man believed to be Mr. Uematsu visited Parliament on Feb. 15 and hand-delivered a letter addressed to the lower-house speaker. The official declined to reveal its contents, but Kyodo News quoted Mr. Uematsu as writing in the letter that he wanted to carry out “euthanasia” on severely disabled people “to revitalize the global economy and prevent World War III.”
In the letter, Mr. Uematsu described a “mission plan” that resembled Tuesday’s killings in some respects, Kyodo reported. In it, he said he would break into two facilities during the night shift, tie down the employees, kill 260 residents and turn himself in.
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