Source 1: CNN
Source 2: BBC

A 25-year-old man, Tomohiro Kato, plowed into pedestrians with a truck in a crowded Tokyo neighborhood (Akihabara) Sunday and then stabbed 17 people in three minutes, killing at least seven in a grisly attack. “He was screaming as he was stabbing people at random,” an unidentified witness told public broadcaster NHK.

Kato was arrested with blood on his face. “The suspect told police that he came to Akihabara to kill people,” said Jiro Akaogi, a spokesman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. “He said he was tired of life. He said he was sick of everything,” Akaogi said.

The Akihabara district specialises in electronic gadgets and video games and is especially popular with people interested in comic books and distinctive fashion. It is also home to one of the first shops to sell personal robots and robotics. The area is often crowded on weekends.

Once rare, stabbing attacks have become more frequent in Japan in recent years. In March, one person was stabbed to death and at least seven others were hurt by a man who went on a slashing spree with two knives outside a shopping mall in eastern Japan. In June of 2001, a man with a history of mental illness burst into an elementary school in Japan and killed eight children. He was executed in 2004.