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Japan police search home of knife attacker

July 27, 2016

Spree-killer Satoshi U. wanted to "revitalize the world economy" by removing disabled people, according to a letter he wrote months before the massacre. He was interrogated in Yokohama over the attack that left 19 dead.

https://p.dw.com/p/1JWcB
Japan Amokläufer in Behindertenheim Festnahme
Image: Reuters/I. Kato

Police raided the suspect's home in the city of Sagamihara on Wednesday, looking for evidence after the 26-year old targeted a nearby disabled people's home. Parts of the two-storey house were sealed off with police tape as several officers took items out in cardboard boxes.

The Japanese man turned himself in and confessed to the stabbing rampage on the previous morning, reportedly saying that the "disabled should all disappear."

After the house search, the authorities transported Satoshi U. from the local prison to the prosecutors' office in Yokohama for interrogation. The police covered his face before putting him in a van (pictured above). Once inside, however, the cover was removed and he grinned to the gathered reporters.

Japan15 Tote bei Messer-Attacke
The city of Sagamihara is some 50 kilometers (32 miles) southwest of TokyoImage: Reuters/Kyodo

Local media reported the suspect wanted to apologize to the families of his victims, but still believed his actions were justified.

"I saved those with multiple disabilities," he told the police, according to TV Asahi which cited investigative sources.

Prevent 'World War III'

Satoshi U. once worked in the disabled home he chose for the scene of his attack, but was forced to leave in February after telling colleagues he intended to kill the patients.

He also detailed a plan to kill 470 disabled people in two different facilities in a letter, and tried to send it to the speaker of the lower house of parliament. In the text, he called for a "revolution" and euthanasia of the disabled as "handicapped people only create unhappiness."

"My reasoning is that I may be able to revitalize the world economy and I thought it may be possible to prevent World War III," he said.

He was forcibly hospitalized after the incident, but discharged after only 12 days after a doctor deemed his condition improved and said he was not a threat to himself of others.

The Tuesday rampage left 19 people dead and 26 injured, prompting incredulity in the country with one of the lowest crime rates in the world. The mass killing is the worst act of violence in Japan since World War II.

dj/kms (dpa, Reuters, AP)