Tokyo — Eight people were injured in a hammer attack at a Tokyo university on Friday, and a 22-year-old student was arrested at the scene, Japanese media reported. All the victims were conscious, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing police sources who said the attack took place in the afternoon at Hosei University's Tama campus.
NHK and other media reported that the attacker, a sociology student, swung the hammer during class. Several reports said that people could see blood coming from her head and that the woman said she had low-key frustration at being ignored. It is reported that the woman was detained on the spot.
Police did not immediately confirm details of what appeared to be a rare case of violent crime in Japan.
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NHK's live broadcast showed a line of ambulances with flashing lights at the campus in the suburbs of the Japanese capital, Machida.
Sometimes stabbings and even shootings happen in Japan, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022 The murder with a homemade gun shocked Japan, where firearms are heavily controlled and violence of any kind, but especially 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 injured at a McDonald's restaurant in southwestern Japan. A man was later arrested in connection with the assault. The teenagers were standing in line around 8:30 p.m. when an assailant reportedly entered the restaurant in Kitakyushu and injured them both.
In January 2022, three people were stabbed outside the prestigious Tokyo University ahead of national 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.