Knife-wielding suspect injures 17 on Tokyo train

The 24-year-old man dressed in Batman’s Joker costume stabbed several passengers on a commuter train on Sunday in Tokyo before starting a fire. Firefighters and other responders rescued several passengers who crawled out through the train windows. Authorities detained the suspect and are investigating him on suspicion of attempted murder.

What prompted the attack? The suspect told police he planned to kill multiple people and receive the death penalty, according to the Kyodo news agency. It marks the second such attack in recent months. A 36-year-old man stabbed 10 passengers on a train in Tokyo in August. He later told authorities he wanted to attack women who looked happy.

Dig deeper: From the archive, read my report in The Sift on a 2019 stabbing near Tokyo.