A 76-year-old woman who was stabbed at an apartment in Machida, Tokyo, on Tuesday evening died shortly after she was transported to hospital.

Officers from Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department arrested Kota Kuwano, a 40-year-old man from Machida, near the site of the incident, on suspicion of attempting to kill the woman. The police will investigate the case in detail by changing his charge to murder.

In the incident, which occurred at around 7:10 p.m. on Tuesday, the victim, Chizuko Akie, a resident of the apartment, was stabbed over 10 times, mainly in the upper body, according to the police.

The suspect, whose occupation is unknown, told the police, "I'm tired of my current life. I thought I'd kill anyone."

Akie and Kuwano were apparently not acquainted with each other.

"I was walking aimlessly, looking for someone who seemed easy to attack. I thought she (Akie) wouldn't fight back," Kuwano said.

According to the police, a relative of Akie, who was living with her at the apartment, heard a scream and went outside to find Akie stabbed and lying on her back near the stairs outside the apartment. The relative then made an emergency call to police to report the incident.

A kitchen knife with a 17-centimeter blade that is believed to have been used in the attack was seized by the police. A security camera installed at the apartment captured Kuwano following Akie, who had returned from shopping and was walking toward the stairs.

The incident took place in a residential area about 600 meters northeast of Odakyu Electric Railway's Machida Station.