A man dressed up as the Joker has been arrested in Tokyo for attempted murder after a knife and arson attack on a city train.
As per The Guardian, at least 17 people have reportedly been injured, with one person thought to be in a serious condition.
The gruesome attack occurred on Sunday, October 31st, at around 8pm local time. The train was near Kokuryo station in Tokyo’s western suburbs.
It happened to be Halloween which meant the city was full of people in costumes. According to media from the country, the attacker, in his 20s, was wearing a green shirt and purple suit, akin to the Joker villain from the Batman comics.
The suspect began attacking people with a knife, also starting a fire on the train. Video footage from the incident shows frightened passengers running away from the smoke, with flames visible in the background. Some climbed out through the train’s windows after it came to an emergency stop. Firefighters were seen tackling the blaze last night, while train services were partially suspended after the incident took place.
“At first I thought it was something like a Halloween event,” a man present on the train told NHK. “But I rushed away as a man carrying a long knife came in. I was very fortunate not to be injured.”
“He held a knife and started spreading liquid,” a female onlooker said. “He was committing this act without showing any emotion, just mechanically. I think that brought fear to everyone.”
Although violent crime is relatively rare in Japan, there have several high profile knife attacks in recent times. As recently as August, 10 people were injured a man wielding a knife on another Tokyo train. The suspect escaped the scene but later handed himself in to authorities.
In that same month, an acid attack occurred at a subway station in the city, with two people suffering burns.
