Three people were found dead and another two injured Sunday at a home in Kobe after one of the victims called police before succumbing to his injuries, police said. A 26-year-old unemployed man found in possession of a kitchen knife was arrested in the neighborhood later in the day.
Police believe the suspect, identified as Kanami Takeshima, attacked the five with the knife and a baseball bat. Authorities were planning to rearrest the man on suspicion of the murders of the three, police sources said.
The three dead were identified as Tatsuo Nambu, 83, and his wife, Miyuki, also 83, and Yaeko Tsuji, 79. Authorities said the two injured were Tomoko Takeshima, 52, and Misao Maekita, 65.
Takeshima is the suspect's mother and Nambu is his grandfather.
"I was holding the knife thinking I would attack and stab somebody — I didn't care who it might have been," a police source quoted the suspect as saying.
Authorities had received a phone call from Tatsuo Nambu, who later died, at around 6:20 a.m. asking for help.
The home where the trio were killed is located about 600 meters south of Okaba Station on the Sanda Line.