Seventeen people were injured on October 31 in Tokyo during an attack on a Tokyo subway train. The attack has left one victim, a man in his 70s, in critical condition. A 24-year-old man, dressed as the Joker from Batman, was arrested at the scene for attempted murder.
Footage of the suspect after the attack showed him sitting on the Keio Line train, wearing a Joker-esque purple suit with a green shirt. He was holding a knife and smoking a cigarette.
The other sixteen victims suffered minor physical injuries, including smoke inhalation, reports Mainichi News.
Videos were uploaded to social media and then broadcasted on Japanese television showing passengers running through the train carriages, trying to escape. A fire blazed in the background and smoke filled the carriage. The train made an emergency stop, and passengers climbed out of the carriage windows.
Nikkei reports that, according to one witness, the suspect spread a liquid around the train and then started a fire.
“I thought it was a Halloween stunt,” said another witness. “Then, I saw a man walking this way, slowly waving a long knife.”
There were reportedly people on the train heading to Halloween events.
“He was committing this act without showing any emotion, just mechanically,” said another witness (via The Guardian). “I think that brought fear to everyone.”
According to The Sankei News, the suspect is quoted as saying that he was having problems at work and with friends. He aimed to kill multiple people and get the death penalty.
The Joker outfit was apparently not an accident. “I admired that the Joker killed people,” he said. The suspect added that he purchased this outfit, a purple suit, and a green shirt, to wear while committing this crime.
While crimes like this are rare in Japan, ten people were injured in a stabbing attack on a Tokyo train this past August.