A man was taken into custody after authorities in Japan reported that he intentionally drove his vehicle into a group of elementary school children in the western city of Osaka.
Seven children, who were returning home from school, sustained injuries and were transported to the hospital.
An official from the Osaka police, who requested anonymity, stated that the driver is a 28-year-old man residing in Tokyo.
Police are detaining him on suspicion of attempted murder, the official added.
The other six, all boys, seemed to have sustained relatively minor injuries, including bruises and scratches, and are currently under examination by medical professionals, according to police.
The car was reportedly “zigzagging” as it struck the children, with one girl “covered in blood and other kids appearing to have scratches,” a witness relayed to Nippon TV.
Following his extraction from the vehicle by school staff, the driver was wearing a surgical mask and “looked like he was in shock,” according to a witness quoted by Nippon TV.
While violent crime is uncommon in Japan, shocking incidents do occasionally take place.
In 2008, Tomohiro Kato drove a rented truck into a crowd in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, getting out to stab seven individuals to death.
Kato was sentenced to death and executed in 2022.
Japan and the United States are the only two members of the Group of Seven industrialized nations that still uphold the death penalty, which enjoys widespread public support.
Prior to the 2008 attack, Kato expressed online dissatisfaction with his unstable job and feelings of loneliness.
Prosecutors reported that his self-esteem had sharply declined after a woman he had been communicating with online abruptly ceased contact following the receipt of a photograph of himself.
