Man kills 5 in gadget-district rampage
IDG reports that 5 are dead and 12 injured in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district after a 25 year-old man drove a rented truck into pedestrians and then "began stabbing people" with a survival knife.
The incident took place on Chuo dori, the main street that cuts through the heart of the world-famous shopping district, at around 12:30pm. On Sundays the road is closed off to traffic to become a pedestrian area and is typically crowded with shoppers and those out the enjoy the area, which has a large number of shops specializing in electronics, computer hardware and software, manga comic books and computer games.
Reports: Attacker Kills 5, Injures 12 in Tokyo's Akihabara [PC World]
Update: CNN has put the number of dead at 7. [CNN]
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Yeah this is a serious fuck up! well categorized!
I live in Tokyo and this guy injured about 10 people and killed 7. This is really scary for me because I like to go to Akiba and it is really nice on Sundays because you can freely walk across the big main street (choudori) and look at all the shops.
According to the news one of the injured is a Police officer who tried to fight the guy with his baton. It is totally crazy to fight a guy with a knife. In the USA we would shot that guy and then ask questions later but in Japan the police are way to slow to use deadly force(or any force) when these kind of situations happen. Sometimes in American shit gets out of control(cops shoot some unarmed black dude 60 times) however in general when deadly force is used it is timely and protects lives. Japanese police are very, very bad and even as safe as Japan is, I feel uneasy when these situations happen. I know that when I need police help sometime I am totally fucked. Those police are going to see my huge white ass and they are going to totally fucken ignore me.
Brian
I'm not saying this in favor of gun legislation or anything, but imagine how much worse this incident would have been if guns were allowed for private citizens in Japan.
Anyways, I hope the guy doesn't turn out to be ota, cuz if I understand it correctly, they aren't exactly held in high regard in Japan as it is..
or, to play devil's advocate, how quickly he could have been stopped if a nearby citizen had a gun.
anyways, this place sounds like heaven! minus of course the truck driving, stabbing, crazed lunatic. I must go there some day.
#2
How fast would it have been stopped if guns were allowed?
(oops, I see #3 beat me to it!)
#1, you're probably more likely to get hit by lightning than for something like this to happen again in Japan. And, yes, you are screwed if this happens again. Learning self defense is your only option. Which is almost impossible with a knife weilder :D.
first comment by damageman is in poor taste, sewer mouthed and borderline paranoid, perhaps some self editing is in order
thank you
Actually, I remember when I used to take hapkido lessons that there are specific moves for disarming people of their knives and even their guns.
I totally blame the absence of Steven Seagal at the scene.
"An armed society is a polite society." -Heinlein
But then again, Japan is probably the politest society on earth, so who knows.
That saying of Heinlein's is a great line, but it's not true. If it were, people confronted by some guy waving a gun would say, "What a polite man!" If it were, Deadwood would be a comedy of manners.
Here's what's true: in armed societies, people shoot each other more often. Who shoots whom, and why, is subject to considerable variation.
If guns were allowed, the perp would have had one. Yes, he would have been shot eventually. But the deathtoll would have been higher, not lower, and not all the victims would have died at his hand, either.