Six injured in stabbing spree in Ibaraki Prefecture
The six victims, between the ages of 27 and 75, are all conscious and their injuries are not life-threatening, Ibaraki Prefectural Police said.
The police arrested Hirokazu Shiobara, a resident of Mito, on the spot on suspicion of attempting to murder a 70-year-old man from Higashiyamato, Tokyo, by stabbing him in the face and right wrist.
According to the police, the suspect first attacked at least one passerby on a back alley by a supermarket shortly past 6 p.m. Monday, then went on a stabbing and beating spree as he moved toward a main street in front of the store.
Investigators suspect that Shiobara may have attacked them indiscriminately as he appears to have no acquaintance with the victims. They are looking into his motives.
The police seized four knives of various types, some stained with blood. The suspect admitted to the allegations, saying he stabbed a person with a knife on a road near his house, according to the police.
Among the six victims, the Higashiyamato man and a 65-year-old male company employee from Mito, who also had his right wrist cut, suffered serious injuries. The other four were slightly injured.
A neighbor who witnessed the incident said the suspect was holding what appeared to be survival knives in both hands and had another one attached to his waist.
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