19 people killed — the attack reportedly by an ex-employee for a care center for the mentally disabled in Japan. 25 people were also reported injured at what has become Japan’s worse mass killing in decades.
The ex-employee, a 26-year-old man, had threatened to kill hundreds of disabled people earlier this same year. He reportedly turned himself in at a police station to admit guilt to the 19 people killed and the 25 injured in his attack. He was also reported to have stated, “The disabled should all disappear.”
Authorities identified the attacker as Satoshi Uematsu. The man had worked at the care center in Sagamihara until February. Sagamihara is a city with a population of more than 700,000 that resides west of Tokyo.
With 19 people killed and even more injured, it is clear that Ueumatsu held a grudge against his former employer.
The attack took place in the earlier hours of the morning. Uematsu allegedly broke into the first floor of the care facility, tied up one caregiver and began stabbing residents. A doctor at one of the hospitals where victims were transported claimed that some had “deep stab” wounds to the neck area. The doctors explained that the patients were in a state of mental shock, and not ready to speak to anyone regarding the incident.
The victims were nine men and ten women, whose ages ranged from 18 to 70. Twenty of the twenty-five injured were reported to have serious injuries. When Uematsu turned himself in, he arrived at the police station with the murder weapons.
Local Japanese media reported that Uematsu had sent a letter to the speaker of the lower house of Japan’s parliament in February with threats to kill four hundred and seventy disabled people. Uematsu had reportedly been hospitalized on February 19, the same day he left his job, but was discharged twelve days later. The doctor had reasoned that he would not attack anyone.
The killing has been called the worst incident of its kind in Japan since 1938 when a man killed thirty people with an axe, sword and rifle.
