Seventeen people were said to have been injured in a knife and arson attack on a train in Tokyo on Sunday night, according to the police.
The local media reported on Monday that arrested suspect told investigators that he adored Batman villain character, the Joker, saying that was why he wore the costume.
Kyota Hattori, 24, who was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder on Sunday night, was also quoted as saying that he “wanted to kill people and be given the death penalty.”
The suspect said that he had been thinking of being sentenced to death since June.
Photos and videos posted on social media from the scene showed Hattori was wearing a Joker-like costume with a green shirt and purple suit.
He told the police that he chose a limited express train bound for the city center with few stops because it was usually crowded with passengers.
The suspect expressed regret at failing to kill anyone in the attack.
The police said that Hattori visited Tokyo’s Shibuya district which was a hot spot for costumed party goers to celebrate Halloween about two hours before the incident.
Among the injured, a man in his 70s was seriously hurt having allegedly been stabbed by Hattori in the chest.
The other 16 victims, between their teens and 60s, sustained minor injuries, including smoke inhalation.
Hattori also allegedly set a fire on the train using lighter fluid, burning part of the fifth carriage.
The incident, which took place on a 10-car train bound for Shinjuku in central Tokyo, caused panic among passengers who scrambled to escape through train windows.
After the incident, the train stopped at a station that is not originally planned for the fast train but the doors did not open immediately.
The train operator, Keio Corp, said the staff were not immediately aware of what happened at the time.
They decided not to open doors to prevent passengers from falling through a gap between the train and the platform.
Police found a knife and several plastic bottles which possibly contained lighter fluid and an aerosol can in a train car.
After the incident, the transport ministry asked all the railway companies in Japan to strengthen vigilance to ensure safety.
A number of attacks on trains and station premises in the Tokyo area occurred recently.
A man stabbed and slashed 10 passengers in August on an Odakyu Electric Railway commuter train.
Two men were stabbed on October 15 by a man at JR Ueno Station.
In a separate incident, two people were injured in a Tokyo subway station in late August as a man sprayed sulfuric acid on the face of another man.
(Xinhua/NAN).
