Joker Knifeman Who Injured 17 People In Tokyo 'Planned Attack For Months'

The knifeman who dressed up like the Joker and injured 17 people on a train may have planned the attack for months.

Kyota Hattori dressed up as the Batman villain on Halloween and attacked more than a dozen people on a carriage in Tokyo.

The horrifying incident, which saw people stabbed and the carriage set on fire, took place on Sunday night (31 October) as people headed into the city centre.

According to reports, he bought the knife on the internet and was carrying about four litres of lighter fluid at the time of the attack.

Footage from the incident was shared on social media and showed people scrambling to escape the 24-year-old and the flames engulfing the Keio express line train bound for Shinjuku.

Twitter

Hattori reportedly stabbed 10 people and threw hydrochloric acid during the incident.

Moments after the violent attack, he was seen sitting in the carriage as he calmly smoked a cigarette.

Police were eventually able to arrest Hattori, who later told investigators: "I wanted to kill lots of people, I wanted the death penalty."

He also told investigators that he 'adores' the Joker.

Seemingly offering some sort of reasoning, he claimed that 'things weren't going well with work and friends' and that he had 'wanted to kill someone since June' because he had quit his job and fallen out with a lot of friends.

Twitter

Speaking to the Yomiuri newspaper, one witness recalled the moment they saw passengers running towards their carriage.

He said: "I thought it was a Halloween stunt. Then, I saw a man walking this way, slowly waving a long knife."

There was blood on the knife, he added.

"I heard a loud bang and saw flames and smoke in the back. Everyone was panicking," another passenger told the Japan Times.

A woman who also saw the attack said: "He held a knife and started spreading liquid.

"He was committing this act without showing any emotion, just mechanically. I think that brought fear to everyone."

Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito said during a press conference that the government had told train companies to be on high alert over the coming days.

He said: "Trains are essential to the life of society, and it's extremely important to be able to feel safe as you ride them."

Topics: Police, No-Article-Matching, Japan

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

@SmithersDom