A 61-year-old man has been arrested in Fukuoka for allegedly stabbing three people at a public library. The victims, a 50-year-old woman and two men in their 70s and 80s, suffered injuries but are not in life-threatening condition. The suspect told investigators he did not know the victims.
On Thursday evening, a 61-year-old man, Tatsuo Yoshii, was arrested at the scene in Fukuoka City's Sawara Ward public library on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly stabbing three people with a knife. Fukuoka Prefectural Police received an emergency call around 7:50 p.m., reporting that several individuals had been stabbed and that a security guard had subdued a man holding a knife.
The victims include a 50-year-old woman, a library user who sustained a neck injury; a security guard in his 70s, injured on his hands; and a man in his 80s, seriously wounded in the abdomen. All three were taken to hospitals in the city, where they remain conscious and out of life-threatening danger.
Yoshii has admitted to the stabbings and reportedly told investigators that he did not know the victims. Police seized the knife from the suspect and are investigating the motive for the attack.
The library is located about 1.5 kilometers west of Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka, in an area with condominiums, a hospital, and a park. Authorities believe there was no prior acquaintance between the suspect and the victims.