Japan hammer attack at Tokyo university leaves 8 people wounded, media report
Tokyo — Eight people were wounded in a hammer attack at a university in Tokyo on Friday, with a 22-year-old student arrested at the scene, Japanese media said. All those hurt were conscious, according to public broadcaster NHK, which cited police sources as saying the afternoon attack took place at Hosei University's Tama Campus.
NHK and other media outlets said the attacker, a woman sociology student, had swung a hammer during a class. Several reports said people were seen bleeding from the head and that the woman had said she had pent-up frustration at being ignored. The woman was reportedly arrested at the scene.
Police did not immediately confirm the details about what appeared to be a rare instance of violent crime in Japan.
Live video broadcast by NHK showed a line of emergency vehicles with flashing lights at the campus in the suburban Machida district of the Japanese capital.
There are occasional stabbings and even shootings in Japan, including the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022. The murder with a homemade gun shocked Japan, where firearms are highly controlled and violence of any kind, but particularly gun violence, is rare.
Hosei University was founded in 1880 as a law school and has 15 faculties, according to its website.
In December, a junior high school student was stabbed to death and another was wounded at a McDonald's restaurant in southwestern Japan. A man was later arrested over the attack. The teens were in line to order at around 8:30 pm when the attacker reportedly entered the restaurant in the city of Kitakyushu and stabbed them both.
In January 2022, three people were stabbed outside the prestigious University of Tokyo before nationwide college entrance exams. The victims included an 18-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl and a 72-year-old man, police said at the time.