A 36-year-old mother and her three sons, aged 16, 11, and 9, were found unconscious in their Tokyo home and later died, in what police suspect was a murder-suicide. The husband discovered the situation upon returning home and alerted authorities. The incident took place in a quiet residential neighborhood.
The tragedy unfolded on Friday in a single-family home in Nishitokyo, western Tokyo. The husband, in his 40s, returned around 5:45 p.m. to find the door chain-locked and unable to enter. Hearing loud noises from the second floor, he called emergency services at 110.
Upon forcing entry, police discovered the wife and three sons all unconscious. In one second-floor room, the mother and eldest son lay with stab wounds, a blood-stained ax and knife nearby on the floor. The other two boys were found on a bed in another room, showing strangulation marks on their necks.
All four were rushed to a hospital but were pronounced dead. The home is in a quiet residential area about 1.5 kilometers north of Hoya Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line. Authorities suspect the mother was involved in the apparent murder-suicide and are investigating the motive and sequence of events.
For the neighborhood, the incident has been a shocking disruption to everyday life, with locals expressing dismay over the sudden loss of a seemingly ordinary family. Initial police findings indicate the events occurred before the husband's arrival.
