A man remains at large after allegedly striking two high school students with a hammer and spraying an unknown substance at multiple police officers on Wednesday morning, police said.
The incident occurred at around 7:20 a.m. on a street in Fussa, a suburban area in western Tokyo, when the man, believed to be in his 40s, injured one student in the face and another in the shoulder.
According to the police, he attacked the two after his mother warned several students talking on the street to be quiet, but they remained there.
A witness who saw the incident in a residential area near JR Fussa Station made an emergency call, reporting that a man carrying a hammer was attacking someone.
The police said officers rushed to the scene and, while speaking with the man’s mother, were threatened by the man with a knife he had brought from home before he sprayed them with an unknown substance, injuring three.
Believing the man had barricaded himself inside his home, police stormed the residence around noon but found only a hammer, knife and spray.
Security camera footage showed he apparently fled through a back door after spraying the officers, before police entered the residence.
Although none of the injuries were life-threatening, police are searching for the man on suspicion of attempted murder.
The man is described as being 173 cm tall, with a sturdy build, a shaved head, and wearing a gray tracksuit.
© KYODO
