17-yr-old girl held for threatening massacre in Internet message

Monday 16th June, 10:01 AM JST

FUKUOKA —

Police on Monday said a 17-year-old girl living in Fukuoka on Saturday posted a threatening message in which she said she would kill people at a train station in Kyushu. She used the same online bulletin board as Tomohiro Kato, the suspect in the Akihabara stabbing spree in Tokyo. Police said they intend to send her to prosecutors.

According to police, around 7:19 a.m. on Saturday, the girl posted the message which said: “I intend to carry out a massacre at a station in Kyushu which will go down in history. I’m the same as Kato. I feel sympathy for him. I will be executed because I will kill more people than he did.”

After the message was reported, prefectural police in Kyushu and JR mobilized security personnel at stations. The girl was quoted by police as saying, “I was just joking. I didn’t imagine it would turn into such a big deal.”

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Latest 15 of 67 Total Comments Show All

pizzaboy at 08:57 PM JST - 16th June

Laugh all you want. If you think no students have killed each other or others in this country, it just goes to show how little you read the news.

u could read news in the safest countries in the world (hey, japan is one of em too!) and you'll STILL read horror stories everyday. The "overprotective parent" syndrome is in full effect with the readers of Japantoday, most of whom are pessimistic foreigners.
pizzaboy at 09:01 PM JST - 16th June

Willib

Most teens? My son is 17 and does not plan mass murder, nor jokes about it on the internet. Nor does any other 17 year old I know.

I said most teens crave attention, not print sick jokes. And i doubt there was any serious planning like you stated. And of course most teens don't go to this extreme, but do/have done things to garnish attention. Regarding your son, my sincerest congratulations, how proud you must be.
JoiceRojo at 09:48 PM JST - 16th June

She messed up, but if the justice went that for, then we're probably more likely to see worse things in the news than a mere prank or threat. Getting caught is a good lesson for this girl.

You really think so?, I think that this "girl" deserves going to a trial and get psychiatric evaluation. She doesn't sympathize with the victims, besides, she said "I will kill more than Kato", it soundad like she wanted to win the score made by Kato and then be killed. And then to say, "I was joking" to me it's like she was off her rocker... and the threat cannot be ignored, not because the likelihood of this particular girl going through with it, but for inspiring other copycats and planting panic on the population.
realist at 11:13 PM JST - 16th June

Lock her up and throw away the keys as an example to other depraved individuals who might also want to copycat Kato. There are far too many people like this in Nippon, unfortunately.
norinrad21 at 11:19 PM JST - 16th June

she sounds pretty hardcore
usaexpat at 11:29 PM JST - 16th June

wow, the girls are getting in on the act too. If she really was joking she must not have thought this through too well.
Rigs83 at 11:34 PM JST - 16th June

I live in Massachusetts and a ten year old was taken from his parents and may be expelled from school because of a stick figure drawing he made so everyone the world over take stupid kids either too seriously or not serious enough. There is no litmus test for evil and you can't tell when some fool is mouthing off or is really going to do something horrible so you have to ere on the side of caution and put the publics safety ahead of the rights of an individual in a situation when violence is threatened.
jonobugs at 11:42 PM JST - 16th June

I agree with most people on this site that regardless of the age of the girl, her threat must be taken seriously even if she was telling the truth that it was just a joke.

However, to follow some of the suggestions of incarceration or worse seems a bit like a mob mentality. I'm sure that we all have our own theories about why she wrote what she did, but no one here really knows what she was thinking.

If cooler heads prevail, her case will be looked at carefully to determine what, if any, her motivations were. Should someone determines that she was indeed serious I can't imagine that her punishment would be all that severe since all she did was utter threats. With that in mind, I'm pretty certain that all she'll really get is a slap on the wrist. Of course I'm not really knowledgeable on Japanese laws and any subsequent penalties for death threats.

So far, she hasn't even been arrested yet, unless I am misunderstanding the word "held". If the police do believe her story that it was all a joke, I wonder what they might do, or what they are even allowed to do.
bushlover at 05:06 AM JST - 17th June

I think she needs to learn a lesson. Arrested and held for 2 weeks. threatened that she'd be in jail and generally have the cr@p scared out of her. Then just before you release her give her 10 lashings of the rattan cane and tell her to have a nice day and hope she learned her lesson.
kinniku at 08:09 AM JST - 17th June

pizzaboy,

u could read news in the safest countries in the world (hey, japan is one of em too!) and you'll STILL read horror stories everyday. The "overprotective parent" syndrome is in full effect with the readers of Japantoday, most of whom are pessimistic foreigners.

Thank you so much for explaining how we all should feel! Now I see! Japan is a relatively safe country, so we should ignore all signs of problems or dangers with our young people. That way, we can become like your country! I am sorry. There is nothing wrong with checking out threats of murder that are posted on the internet. Your 'don't worry about it' aside, some of us care about our young people and our society...
pimpninja1 at 05:22 AM JST - 18th June

I'm not sure if I believe that she is dangerous; however, to me, thats not the point. There are 2 reasons for arrests in my mind: to keep the general populace safe and to punish individuals. This girl needs to be punished. I would hope that she gets much more than a fine. Forgive me if I seem harsh, but there are lessons she needs to learn that life hasn't taught to her in 17 years. Besides, dropping the hammer might discourage other wannabe comedians.
SiouxGirl at 04:07 AM JST - 20th June

Similar thing happened here - bomb threat by a 15yo girl. She claimed innocence, saying that someone else told her to do it. She was punished. If she hadn't been, I would've started a petition to have her punished. We can't let people do these things and think they're funny or no big deal. It's not funny. It is a big deal. In Japan, is a parent or guardian responsible for their child under 18yo? If so, they should be charged as well.
Blue_Tiger at 11:50 PM JST - 22nd June

This is one sick kid. Lock her up, and that will teach her a lesson about how to "joke around" properly....
rajakumar at 03:02 AM JST - 26th June

This girl, is like many teenagers today, they do not how or in what way, to contribute to society's betterment.
rajakumar at 03:47 AM JST - 26th June

Oops, sorry- should be- This girl is like many teenagers today,they do not know how or in what way, to contribute to society.