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Man Arrested on Suspicion of Threatening Game Company Visual Art's With Arson
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The MBS television station reported on Thursday that police have arrested a man who threatened the game company Visual Art's online with arson. The suspect is a 25-year-old temporary worker from Hamamatsu city in Shizuoka prefecture.
According to police, the suspect allegedly sent the threat in August to the Osaka-based company. He allegedly posted messages on Twitter such as "I'm preparing gasoline."
Kyoto Animation has animated several adaptations of games by Visual Art's/Key, including Air and Clannad.
The July 18 fire at Kyoto Animation's Studio 1 building killed 35 people and wounded 34 others. Kyoto Prefectural Police have already apprehended a 41-year-old man who allegedly used gasoline to start the fire, and are investigating the case as arson.
Last month, Tokyo police arrested a 40-year-old man who works in the delivery industry for allegedly sending a threat and creating forcible obstruction of business at game developer Square Enix. According to police, the man demanded money back from a game in his message and threatened to repeat the fire at Kyoto Animation's 1st studio building on July 18.
Additionally, police arrested a 63-year-old dispatch worker in Sapporo, Hokkaido for sending a threatening message referencing Kyoto Animation through the LINE messaging and social media app in July. The suspect allegedly sent a message to his former superior, a 36-year-old male nursing home employee, through LINE on July 25 at around 10:35 a.m. The message said, "I'm off to get revenge. Maybe it'll be the Hokkaido version of KyoAni?"
