American in custody after Chiba pepper-spray incident sickens 40
At around 2:40 p.m., Eri Yen-Joo Lin, 51, allegedly sprayed pepper spray at two other men, aged 72 and 69, in the parking lot of Aeon Mall Chiba New Town.
Both men, who had been shopping, suffered minor injuries, police said.
According to the Inzai Police Station, 44 people complained of feeling unwell after the pepper spray was sprayed by Lin. Of them, twelve were taken to a hospital.
Lin told police that he had gotten into a dispute with the men over cigarettes. 'I lost my temper and sprayed the pepper spray,' he said.
Police accused Lin of inflicting injury. They are also speaking with the hospitalized men to learn the details of what led to the incident. Shopping mall
The shopping mall where the incident occurred is mainly composed of four buildings. The parking lot is on the first floor. After the incident, many police officers and emergency personnel gathered to deal with the situation. As well, several wheelchairs were seen being brought in and access to some of the aisles near the parking lot was restricted, reports NHK (May 23).
A woman who was eating with three friends at a restaurant on the first floor of the shopping mall said, 'Suddenly, the people around me started coughing and my nose started stinging. About 20 people, including customers and store clerks, had the same symptoms. We got better quickly, but some were more severe. It was the first time something like this had happened to me, so I was surprised.'
A woman in her 60s who lives in the city had come to shop at the facility. She said, 'I went into a store near the parking lot on the first floor, and suddenly started coughing uncontrollably, so the store clerk gave me some tea. My throat was itchy and it's still there. The atmosphere inside the facility was not the usual peaceful one, and I didn't know what was going on.'
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