Police will soon question several boys at once in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 13-year-old boy in Kawasaki last week, investigative sources said Thursday.
The boys surfaced after security footage taken near where Ryota Uemura was found dead along the Tama River last Friday showed a group of people, possibly including the victim, the sources said.
According to one of Uemura's friends, the victim had said he was assaulted by a group of older boys and feared he might be killed. Uemura, who attended a junior high school nearby, was troubled by the escalation in violence after he revealed plans to cut ties with them, the friend said.
An autopsy on the victim has found he died early last Friday from hemorrhagic shock caused by stab wounds in his neck. There were also knife wounds on his face and arms.