Teenage Schoolmates Arrested Over Fatal Home Invasion

May 16, 2026 | News On Japan

TOCHIGI, May 16, 2026 (News On Japan) - A 16-year-old boy newly arrested over a robbery-murder case in Kamimikawa, Tochigi Prefecture, in which a 69-year-old woman was killed during a home invasion on May 14th, was a classmate at the same high school as another teenage suspect already in custody, police revealed.

Investigators believe the attack may have been carried out by a loosely connected criminal group known in Japan as "Tokuryu."

According to police, multiple intruders forced their way into the house shortly before 9:30 a.m. on May 14th while searching for valuables. The suspects allegedly encountered resident Eiko Tomiyama, 69, and fatally stabbed her with what authorities described as some form of weapon.

Tomiyama was later found in a ransacked room with a stab wound to the chest. Her eldest and second sons were also attacked, reportedly beaten with a crowbar-like object and suffering injuries to their arms and heads.

Police first arrested a 16-year-old male high school student from Sagamihara City in Kanagawa Prefecture on suspicion of robbery-murder. Investigators said the teenager was taken into custody shortly after the incident after officers spotted him walking near the scene while attempting to hide his face with his hands.

Police later arrested another 16-year-old boy, who claims to be a high school student, after locating him as he emerged from his home in Sagamihara. He was also arrested on suspicion of robbery-murder.

According to investigators, the two suspects were students in the same grade at the same high school.

Police believe multiple people were involved in the attack. Witnesses reported seeing a suspicious person dressed entirely in black, wearing a balaclava and carrying what appeared to be a crowbar in the neighborhood shortly before the crime.

Investigators also said suspicious cars and motorcycles had been spotted around Tomiyama's home and the residence of her second son several times between late April and early May.

Police said there was no known connection between Tomiyama and the teenage suspects. Authorities are continuing to search for other individuals believed to have participated in the attack while investigating possible links to a Tokuryu group, a term used in Japan to describe loosely organized criminal networks formed through social media and underground recruitment channels.

Previously: 16-Year-Old Arrested Over Fatal Robbery at Tochigi Home

Source: TBS

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