Kyoto police officer injured by man with knife shoots him in shoulder

tokyoreporter.com -- Jul 27

An officer with the Kyoto Prefectural Police shot and wounded a 35-year-old man wielding a knife in Maizuru City on Saturday, reports TBS News (July 26).

At around 1:30 p.m., a passerby reported to a koban police box that “a man was wielding a knife” at a nearby intersection.

About five minutes later, a male officer arriving at the scene called out to him. The man then slashed him in the face and left arm with the 15-centimeter-long knife.

After firing a warning shot, the officer fired a second time, this time striking the man — later identified as Katsutoshi Hiramasu, of no known occupation — in the right shoulder.

In footage taken from a moving vehicle, four officers, including one with a bloody arm, can be seen pinning Hiramatsu to the pavement near a downed motorbike.

Neither the officer nor Hiramatsu suffered injuries that are considered life-threatening, police said.

Upon his arrest on suspicion of attempted murder, Hiramatsu, who lives in the area, admitted to the allegations.

Police also said that weapon was used since the officer deemed Hiramatsu a threat. “A pistol was properly used,” a representative of Kyoto Prefectural Police was quoted.