A man claiming to be a mobster under the influence of stimulants was arrested June 20 after pulling a knife and randomly assaulting commuters at a subway station in Tokyo’s business district.
Two passengers and one railway worker at Otemachi Station on the Chiyoda Line suffered minor injuries. The attacker, identified as Hidetoshi Ide, 56, was reportedly planning to visit the Tokyo headquarters of the Yomiuri Shimbun for unknown reasons.
According to police, Ide suddenly pulled a knife and attacked several people on the subway platform shortly before noon. The station, which was more crowded than usual because of the typhoon downpour outside, was temporarily thrown into chaos as commuters scrambled to escape the assailant. Station workers used bullhorns to urge people to flee.
Ide was soon corralled by commuters and station workers and subsequently arrested by police. A train operator who witnessed the melee said, “I was just about to start the train when I noticed a man carrying a knife inside the train. I went out to ask for help from station workers, and when I returned, a middle-aged woman was lying down and the man was just about to stab her.”
The motorman said a male passenger nearby cried out, “Stab me instead of her!” Ide reportedly told investigators he recently took stimulants, and police are interrogating him to determine if he was under the influence of drugs.
