Liquor store intruder slashes 5 cops in Okinawa

Tuesday 21st July, 12:19 PM JST

OKINAWA —

A 45-year-old man was arrested for breaking and entering, interfering with police in the line of duty and assault on Monday morning, after he forced his way into a liquor store in Ginowan City before attacking police officers who responded to the store’s security alarm.

Police said that they were alerted to the illegal entry just before 4 a.m. Eight officers arrived at the scene about five minutes later. The suspect, identified as Atsushi Uehara, 45, dashed out of the store, only to be surrounded by the officers. He began to threaten the officers with two knives he was carrying and inflicted minor injuries on five of them, leaving cuts on their arms, faces and necks, before being arrested.

Uehara was also carrying a flashlight and a pair of gloves, and told police he entered the store to drink alcohol, but no items were missing or opened in the store. He did test positive to an alcohol breath test after his arrest though.

The store owner was quoted as saying: “Thanks to the quick response of the police, no money or goods were stolen. I had heard there had been a few break-ins recently, and so had the police help install an alarm about two weeks ago. Looks like it came in pretty handy.”

News reports

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Latest 15 of 59 Total Comments Show All

ritalynn at 08:44 AM JST - 22nd July

You people bitch when the cops don't get the job done and you bitch when they do! It's no win for those guys. In all this complaining you guys forgot one thing: It was 4 in the morning! It may have been too dark to get a clear shot. Besides, the story doesn't say if batons wasn't used.

The cops did a good job, the arrested the supect without the loss of human life or monetary damages, they may have got hurt, but that's part of the job, they knew and understood that going in.
soldave at 08:56 AM JST - 22nd July

Am going to assume the speedy response was due to the fact that this is in Ginowan which isn't too far away from a number of US bases. An 8-person response is pretty impressive for one liqour store you have to admit.
cleo at 09:27 AM JST - 22nd July

Then what is the use of carrying firearms if the police are not going to carry them?

Gosh, I've got a gun, what a waste if I don't shoot someone - isn't that a rather dangerous attitude?

Perhaps the Japanese police should stop kidding themselves and assume the old British police view (hit them with a truncheon).

I find it very disturbing that the British police are finding excuses to arm themselves more these days. 'Our cops don't need guns' used to be a point of pride.

The Japanese police force was armed after the war by the McArthur government; it's not something Japan chose for itself, and this may explain in part the caution with which guns are handled, and the reluctance to use them. I think you may be right that the japanese police should disarm. I would be happy if they did.

I just don't like the idea of police being tied up by the mental attitude of not being willing to use their weapons, even if they are faced with real danger.

The readier they are to use firearms against civilians, the more likely they are to be faced with real danger as the criminals up the ante.
LFRAgain at 09:54 AM JST - 22nd July

Quite honestly, we don't know precisely how this guy was taken into custody, so I'm not sure where the presumption that the police simply "tackled" him came from. In all likelyhood, batons were used. They tend to be the standard go-to weapon of choice for police in Japan. I have no problem with using pepper spray either. But shooting a guy who was clearly not Public Enemy No. 1 (he was a drunk looking for booze) is a massive over-reaction on so many levels as to beggar description. This bizarre belief that police officers are some sort of sacred cows endowed with a right to "plug" anyone who crosses their path is an unfathomably sad development for modern societies and speaks to an even more troubling casual disregard for life in general. Seriously, what's with this almost gleeful cry for blood? Is life really that cheap?

The officers sustained minor cuts. That comes with the job of serving and protecting. They did their jobs correctly.
jackfish at 09:58 AM JST - 22nd July

Japanese police don't deal with crazy violent crime on a daily basis, like police in places such as Detroit or LA or Washington DC. I'm guessing that they are so shocked at seeing it really happen, they hesitate. Just a guess.
bushlover at 10:50 AM JST - 22nd July

I'm going to have to agree that it's good they didn't use their guns. After all with a shaky hand you might miss and hit one of your own. These pussies risked getting shanked rather than taking him out. I mean how many can he slash before 5 guys can take out a drunk? He must have been pretty quick to slash 5 of em. If the 5 couldn't handle that situation quick enough then guns should be out of the question. Too dangerous in nervous J-cop hands.
mindovermatter at 11:24 AM JST - 22nd July

I don't want petty criminals thinking my daughter is going to 'drill' them anyways so they may as well get the first shot in. Nor do I want her to have unnecessary blood on her hands.

I don't know what planet you are living on, if you've ever ventured outside of your home, let alone your prefecture or even visited another country for that matter. I don't know, nor do I care for a second about you, But I truly hope to god your daughter never gets to face a REAL criminal, NOT for their safety, but for the safety of your daughter's.

I don't believe JN cops are totally incompetent, they know how to give directions, they know how to stop old people, kids and salary-men on bicycles to check their registrations, but that are in not any way Trained to handled anything more than giving out tickets or directions, nor should they be trusted to.

Whether you believe this or not I do not care, but for the sake of your daughter, I would hope she finds another line of work, one in which they actually train personnel for the actual tasks' at hand.

I would never ever rely on JN cops, NOR does the U.S. gov't here in Japan, we actually give them training. But I'm sure with your "Nihonjin Pride" you could never in a million years accept that fact...
cleo at 12:44 PM JST - 22nd July

First we had people telling us what REAL cops do, now we have a call out for REAL criminals. Oy vay.
fishy at 04:19 PM JST - 22nd July

J-Cops only get to practice shooting at the range couple of times a year, that's all. They are not used to shooting and to shoot the guy is definitely not the first thing on their mind when there's a crazy guy hurting people right in front of them. J-Cops are not properly trained to use a gun.
redsox at 08:49 PM JST - 22nd July

J-Cops only get to practice shooting at the range couple of times a year, that's all. Thaaat's right. Cops in other countries actually practice shooting at real targets, not at the shooting range. Get real. I would never ever rely on JN cops, NOR does the U.S. gov't here in Japan, we actually give them training. Kind of shooting yourself in the foot there, Champ.
Mookoo at 08:55 PM JST - 22nd July

Am going to assume the speedy response was due to the fact that this is in Ginowan which isn't too far away from a number of US bases. An 8-person response is pretty impressive for one liqour store you have to admit.

The speed was due to an alarm installed with the assistance of the police, which suggests setting off the alarm would alert the police directly. If there was a koban or police station near the liquor store, response would naturally be fast. If there were partol cars in the area, response would naturally be fast. There is very little traffic at that hour. Optimum conditions for quick response by the police.
mindovermatter at 10:31 PM JST - 23rd July

Kind of shooting yourself in the foot there, Champ.

I don't remember mentioning firearms training there brains... But that's ok, I'm sure all you english teacher's and salary-men Know all there is to know about law enforcement and self-defense techniques and tactics... (¬_¬)

Oh... and wasn't it a year ago or so that just one little scrawny 45kg geek killed like 6 or 7 people up in Akihabara...? Oh... but that was different huh...? These were just minor injuries....

I think NOT, anytime a knife is involved, it's NOT a trivial matter, these SMART Jcops are just lucky, AND I mean, L-U-C-K-Y that none of them had any serious injuries...

Like bringing a Knife to a gun fight... Jcops and REAL crime, Not A Good Idea!

Nobody is saying those cops should have gone in Guns Blazing, but to try to engage a drunk guy with a knife with only self-defense tactics and their 12 inch little plastic ASP's, (is As Chris Rock so eloquently says...) "Is just Ignat"

Need to use common-sense here people... Please... I know it's in such short supply here in Japan...
cleo at 10:45 PM JST - 23rd July

we don't know precisely how this guy was taken into custody, so I'm not sure where the presumption that the police simply "tackled" him came from.

It comes from the 'all or nothing' mentality some people seem to have; either the cops gun a drunk down, or they stand around doing nothing and hoping he gets tired of cutting them up soon. Nothing in between is conceivable. We are LUCKY, and I mean L-U-C-K-Y that none of these people are cops....

You can tell someone doesn't know what they're talking about when they drag up the Akihabara incident as 'proof' of poor police work.
Mookoo at 04:40 PM JST - 24th July

I doubt many here have practiced or played with knives, either. You can stick or slash someone pretty fast if they are unprepared or unskilled. Being cut dozens of times in an encounter of 10 seconds is rather common. These officers did very well under the circumstances. There are likely few among us who could have done better.
tuneintokyo at 10:37 PM JST - 26th July

This guy might have been a drunk... but he was a drunk with weapon(s). It doesn't matter what his intention was entering the store, the moment he attempts to stab, cut, injure...etc anyone and especially a police officer then he should be dealt with using extreme force. Gun? Maybe not... but a sword would have done the trick.