Supermarket security guard stabbed to death in Tokyo
TOKYO —
A 61-year-old supermarket security guard was stabbed to death in Hachioji on Sunday at around 11:35 a.m., police said Monday. The man was stabbed several times in the chest with a kitchen knife. Police said the knife’s blade measured around 16 centimeters.
According to NTV, emergency services rushed to the scene after a passer-by reported the incident at the Eco’s Oyoko store. The victim was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead three hours later.
Witnesses said the suspect got into an argument with a store employee over change and when the security guard intervened, he was stabbed. Police arrested the man carrying a blood-stained knife near the scene. He was initially arrested on a charge of attempted murder, but it was changed to murder after the victim passed away, NTV reported.
A police spokesman was quoted as saying they were not sure where the suspect lives, and that his speech in unintelligible. Investigators said the suspect will undergo a psychiatric test to determine whether he can be held legally responsible for his crimes.
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38 Comments
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4
Graham DeShazo
Poor guy probably thought it would be an easy-money post-retirement job of asking the housewives to park their bikes elsewhere.
5
the_odeman
RIP poor fella. And here I was thinking being a security guard in Japan was easier and safer than back home....
2
Brandon Reid
The way I see it, whether he was mentally there or not, he still did the crime. So now he should have to do the time.
-3
hoserfella
This is what scares me about Japan. How many other off-the-grid lunatics are walking around out there with knives? Or ready to push you off a train platform?
-1
Elbuda Mexicano
So sad! I really hope this nut case hangs, and hangs from the highest tree ASAP! RIP innocent security guard out there in Hachioji.
3
nandakandamanda
Forgot to take his meds?
0
spudmanreincarnated
Wow some of you have no sense of what a mental illness is. If you are out of your mind and therefore have no sense of right or wrong it can't be a crime as you have no responsibility for your actions. Killing mentally ill people is what the Nazis and kind folk in the middle ages did. Thankfully Japan is above this, I guess "christian countries" still haven't educated their citizens about this important bit of civics.
-1
Darren Brannan
Sounds like a schizophrenic to me.
2
Ben_Jackinoff
I am sure this is what you meant, but while the person can be determined to be not responsible by reason of insanity, it was and would still be a crime.
0
spudmanreincarnated
yes you're right it's a crime but not a prosecutable crime, if the suspect was insane.
6
hoserfella
spudman - whats this about "Christian countries"? I didn't see anyone reference them. You sound like another self-hating foreigner with that statement. As far as Japan being "above" killing mentally ill people, we will never know since no one is ever diagnosed as being mentally ill. Help for such people is almost non-existant.
0
Hide Suzuki
hosefella, "This is what scares me about Japan". This happens in any country, Japan is a lot safer than most other countries. I agree with most, he should be tried and take responsibility for what he did, whether he is mentally ill or not.
0
hoserfella
Hide- I agree Japan is safer than most other countries, but the sheer number of mentally unstable out there is a real worry. Treatment and support for mental illness is lacking, and like I said, in Japan you never know when one of these people is going to lose it.
2
CrazyJoe
He may be a キチガイ (mental case). There's a lot more that I know about the case but I won't reveal them now. One thing I'll tell you is that he bought the kitchen knife at this same supermarket just before he stabbed the security guard. Just wait for the update by JT.
0
Disillusioned
Ah, yes! Japan the safety country. It is a safe country as long as some utter loon is not having a bad day and decides to take to you with a kitchen knife, of course.
-1
NetNinja
Godwin's law brought up by the 7th post.
There are a lot of shaking puppies out there. Hide, I gotta disagree with you. It's not necessary to defend the nation every time something like this happens. If you continue to do that you'll be defending this nation every day cause there's always a story like this.
It seems very clear to me that Japanese don't want to admit that there's trouble in their paradise that they call Nippon!!! You've got fruitcakes and nutcases by the boatload. I wish I could take you on a virtual tour.
Wish you could've been there the day some Japanese guy tried to urinate on my friend. Exposing himself. Took 2 of us to hold him back from going over there and destroying the guy who was not worth it. We immediately identified him as being mentally ill.
Oh but you didn't read about that. It didn't get reported. We can't report everything. You wouldn't want to either. That would be depressing. Sorry Hide, but I gotta say not seeing the danger doesn't make Japan a safe country. It just makes it more dangerous.
America might appear more dangerous than Japan but at least you know not to take a stroll in Brooklyn or South Central Los Angeles with a wad full of cash. You know where it's at.
Japan....just the opposite.....it's a Sucker Punch that you can't see coming. It's Daffy Duck with a kitchen knife and a chemical imbalance in the brain.going bonkers. Anybody who happens to be around such an individual at that time is the victim.
0
forzaducati
Haha, the Middle Ages and the Nazis? Nice, recent examples. And to which Christian countries in 2011 are you referring to? Any European countries perhaps? As for "Japan being above this", over the years there have been quite a few cases where a person suspect of being mentally ill, having his/her life ended at the wrong end of a piece of rope.
Moderator
Readers, please stay on topic. References to the Nazis and other countries are not relevant to this discussion.
1
zichi
It wasn't that long ago they executed a young mental disabled man? They want to release 77,000 mentally ill patients from hospitals which in itself it a good thing but not without providing alternative therapies, clinics and day care centers.
1
Tom DeMicke
That's just messed up! Wow! RIP my man!
0
Gilberto Nino Yanguas Mori
Whoaaa, a passer-by reported the incident? No one among the store employees did it? The poor guy could have been saved if they intervene soonest possible. Just a thought though base on what I read from this article.
1
ExportExpert
It seems japan has a very high ratio of nutbars compared to other places, just about every day you will come across one who is visibly mentally challenged and i dont just mean the average guy in the street, i mean seriously mental cases. Japanese dont seem to recognise mental illnesses as we would in other countries, half the time the doctors and other pyhsics (trick Cyclists) dont even think they are mad let alone diagnose it or get them to seek help, and then coz so many of them are mad it all seems like normal to them anyway, Then you read these articles about one of them who has tossed the pork pie and gone off, slashing & stabbing.
I always try to be aware as possible when amongst the general populace as you never know when the next one is going spit the dummy and wanna take half a dozen poeple to the morgue.
1
Christina O'Neill
The Security Guard did his duty and paid for it with his life, my sincere condolences to his family and friends,
0
jonobugs
It certainly sounds like this man doesn't have his full facilities, but that doesn't mean he won't be held responsible. If the court deems him to be mentally unfit to take trial, I would like to believe that he would still be held at some sort of institution that would try to rehabilitate him.
Either way, I'm sure he's not going to just be released back into the public.
0
gogogo
crazy
1
southsakai
i hope not! Mental or sane, he should be held responsible for his actions. Sick of hearing people with loose nuts in the head getting away with these sorts of crimes because err "he or she did not know what they were doing at the time". bla bla bla
Poor man, What a way to go. This is not the way to go! You want to leave this place nice and peaceful in your bed, not like this.
As Graham DeShazo mentioned above, poor man must have been looking for a little extra income and i guess something to keep him busy.
I honestly wish this nut job gets the exact same thing what he did to this old man. He should be put away in the same fashion. Eye for an eye. To bad justice is not delivered that way in cases like this.
And it all started with a petty argument about change. Give me a break! Someone lost his life trying to break up an argument about change. Can't believe the things that happen in this world.
0
Nessie
Further proof that the knife laws are dumb.
Not a hunting knife, which are especially targeted by the anti-knife law, and impossible to find the knife before it's used.
0
Weasel
I suppose we'll see if Japanese law if the guilty act alone is sufficient to lock away someone.
-1
CharlieCard
Sorry guys but the fact of the matter is Japan has a lower crime rate than basically everysingle western countries. You can claim all you want that Japan has more nutcases with knives, but the statistics do not show it. By the way just about 2 weeks ago a nutcase here in the USA cut off his childs head and put it on the road for his wife to see it. Nutcases are everywhere in the world, and statistically, when it comes to crime Japan has less of them. It is a fact.
Moderator
Please stay on topic. Comparisons with other countries are not relevant to this discussion.
0
southsakai
I definitely agree with you on that one! I come from the tiny little island Fiji with a population less than a million. I can almost certainly say we have more crime going on over there each day compared to all of Japan combined.
So yeah Japan is definitely a safe place compared to other places around the world. But still you need to be on your guard all times like everywhere else.
Thing is overseas i can usually suss people out pretty quick when I think someone's shady or whack - but in Japan, I don't know who's who.
0
sensei258
I swear that place is just around the corner from my apartment! It's also right next to a fire station, and across the street from a big police station (not one of those "koban"). The suspect previously went to jail for seven years after stabbing and killing a policeman. No joke.
0
Hide Suzuki
Hey NetNinja, I see your point of view. I don't try to defend japan every time, I am not an extreme right wing nutcase that you see on the street sometimes in case you are wondering :) But some posters are so negative on this site constantly that I might give the impression of being the extremist on the other side
0
Mirai Hayashi
This is awful. Most of these security guards are retired police, who just want a simple job to supplement their social security income. None of them expect to have to be in a situation like this. So sad.
By the way mods, there is a grammatical error in the story...lets see if you can find and correct it.
0
Juan Rodriguez
Is there such a thing as a anti-knife vest? If not, there ought to be one, at least for security personel
0
WilliB
Juan Rodriguez:
Yes, there is. I believe the local cops are wearing them now. Maybe we should follow suit. Stabby season seems to have expanded to all year now...
0
Juan Rodriguez
Thank you WilliB, it is good to know man!
0
KefkaPalazzo
has anyone considered that the suspect could be LYING? its not hard to fake insanity
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