Man in Tokyo Dressed as Joker Stabs 17 and Sets Train on Fire

A man dressed as the Joker set fire to a Tokyo train after stabbing several people on the vehicle, leading to 17 injuries.

As reported by NHK News, the man carried a knife and attacked multiple people while wearing the costume on the Keio train near the Kokuryo station. Passengers said the knife was covered in blood, as many can be seen on camera escaping the train through windows and various exits as it filled with smoke. 

The 24-year-old man in the costume reportedly set fire to the train with a flammable liquid. The Tokyo Fire Department reports that 17 passengers were injured, and three of them seriously. The attack marked the second stabbing aboard a Tokyo train in recent months.

“I thought it was a Halloween stung,” the New York Post reports a witness saying. “Then I saw a man walking this way, slowly waving a long knife.”

The man was eventually arrested, and local reporters share that he “wanted to kill people so he could be sentenced to death,” the Post reports. He is being investigated on suspicion of attempted murder. 

The incident took place two months after a 36-year-old man stabbed 10 people aboard another train during the Tokyo Olympics – the man reportedly claimed he wanted to attack women who appeared happy.