OSAKA -- About 30 teenagers wielding steel pipes and baseball bats assaulted 10 homeless men sleeping in a park in Osaka Prefecture early Friday, inflicting various injuries, police said. The teenagers, who appeared to be either junior high or high school students, arrived on scooters and bicycles at a shelter in the park in Moriguchi at around 2:30 a.m. and began their assault.
A 59-year-old man suffered a fractured rib and three others sustained minor injuries. There were about 10 homeless people in the shelter at the time of the attack, but no others were hurt, police said.
According to police, the youths attacked the men after one of them complained about the noise of their motorbikes. The boys reportedly ordered the homeless men out of the park, claiming they were unable to play due to their presence. The assailants reportedly threatened to return.
"I woke up when I heard sounds and saw about 30 people. When I told the others to be alert, they chased and punched me," the 59-year-old man said. "I don't understand why they did such a thing."