In Japan’s worst mass killing since the end of World War II, a man attacked a Sagamihara care center for the mentally and physically disabled Monday armed with several knives, taking the lives of 19 and injuring more than 20.
The man broke into a window of the center around 2:10 a.m. and attacked sleeping residents in their rooms. Police were called by staff about 20 minutes later, but the stabbings lasted nearly 40 minutes, the Associated Press reported.
Victims were aged between 19 and 70, according to Kyodo news agency.
The man, a 26-year-old former center employee identified as Satoshi Uematsu, turned himself in to police. In a letter obtained by Kyodo written to politicians in February, the same month he quit his job at the center, Uematsu volunteered to carry out “euthanasia” on disabled people, and kill 260 care center residents. He thought their deaths would “prevent World War III.”
“My goal is a world in which the severely disabled can be euthanized, with their guardians’ consent, if they are unable to live at home and be active in society,” Uematsu wrote.
“The lives of many innocent people were taken away and I am greatly shocked,” said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “We will make every effort to discover the facts and prevent a reoccurrence.”
According to the OECD, Japan has an average homicide rate of 0.3 per 100,000 people, in comparison to the U.S. average of 5.2 and the the OECD average of 4.1, making it one of the most peaceful nations in the world.
National Safety Council spokesman Ned Price, in a statement Tuesday, extended his condolences to victims’ families.
“There is never any excuse for such violence, but the fact that this attack occurred at a facility for persons with disabilities makes it all the more repugnant and senseless,” Price said. “The thoughts of the American people are with our Japanese friends as they mourn the lives lost.”
