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Tomohiro Katō Sentenced to Death for Akihabara Killings (Updated)
posted on by Egan Loo
On Thursday, the Tokyo District Court sentenced 28-year-old Tomohiro Katō to death for killing seven and injuring 10 in a hit-and-run and stabbing rampage in Tokyo's otaku shopping district of Akihabara (Akiba) in 2008.
Katō struck five individuals with a truck at an intersection near the main Japan Railways station of Akihabara at around 12:35 p.m. on June 8, 2008. He then proceeded to leave the vehicle and stab 12 people on the streets. Police apprehended the suspect on a side street shortly after the incident.
As a result of Katō's actions, Akihabara halted "Pedestrian Paradise" — the tradition of zoning the main street of the shopping district as pedestrian-only. The tradition was just restored in January, although it has been put on hold again for the past two Sundays after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake of March 11.
Source: Mainchi Shimbun
Update: More background information added.
Update: Introduction's statistics corrected. Thanks, Raoh.
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