Slashing suspect had one more knife, saw

Jan 17, 2022 | News On Japan

Jan 17, 2022 (NHK) - Police in Tokyo say a high school student who was arrested on suspicion of slashing three people possessed a saw and another knife in addition to the one used in the assault.

The suspect attacked two high school students and a 72-year-old man with a kitchen knife outside the gate of the University of Tokyo on Saturday. The students were about to take standardized university entrance exams there. The elderly man was seriously injured.

Investigative sources say the 17-year-old suspect initially said he was struggling with his poor academic scores while aiming to enter the University of Tokyo and become a doctor. He said he wanted to die after committing a crime. The sources say he has stopped talking since then.

The second day of standardized university entrance exams went underway nationwide on Sunday, except for a site in Iwate Prefecture where the tests were canceled due to a tsunami warning that had been in effect.

Exam sites across Japan are under tight security. Police officers and vehicles were deployed at the gate of the University of Tokyo, where the incident occurred.

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