Tokyo Man on Run after Hammer Attack on High School Students

Tokyo, April 30 (Jiji Press)–A 44-year-old man is on the run after attacking two high school students with a hammer in Fussa in Tokyo on Wednesday and spraying a liquid at police officers responding to the incident. A witness reported the incident on a street in a residential area about 700 meters northwest of Fussa Station at around 7:20 a.m. Wednesday. Five people were injured, with one of the students suffering a fracture of the left orbital floor. Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the whereabouts of the attacker on suspicion of attempted murder. According to the MPD, the man carried out the hammer attack after seven high school students had been loitering on the street near his home. Shortly before the incident, the man’s mother warned the students, who responded that they would be quiet. The man returned home after attacking the students and pulled out a knife when police officers arrived. He then sprayed them with a yellow liquid. He was believed to have barricaded himself in the house, but was gone when police entered it about four and a half hours later. Security camera footage showed the man fleeing through a back door while police were distracted, according to investigative sources. He left behind what appeared to be a survival knife and several hammers at the house. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]