A man suspected of stabbing a police officer and stealing his pistol in Osaka Prefecture on Sunday morning has been apprehended, police said Monday.

Yujiro Iimori, the 33-year-old suspect, allegedly stabbed officer Suzunosuke Kose, 26, with a knife at a police box in Suita and fled the scene around 5:40 a.m., the police said. </s> OSAKA (THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A man was arrested on Monday (June 17) morning on suspicion of attempted murder over the stabbing of a police officer in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, the previous day.

Following the attack on the officer, whose handgun was also stolen, police found a man suspected of fleeing the scene in a nearby city in Osaka Prefecture. The suspect was identified as part-time worker Yujiro Iimori, 33, of Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo. Iimori had the handgun with him when Osaka prefectural police arrested him.

According to police, Iimori denied the allegation of attempted murder. They will further investigate his possible motives and other elements of the case.

Iimori is suspected of attempting to murder on-duty policeman Suzunosuke Kose, 26, by stabbing him in the chest in a parking space of the Senriyama police box in Suita at about 5.38am on Sunday, police said. Iimori is also suspected of stealing officer Kose's handgun, loaded with five bullets.

Officer Kose is unconscious and in critical condition.

In response to questioning, Iimori reportedly said: "That's not something I did. I think it happened because my illness got worse and the people around me got worse."

Iimori has remained silent on the subject of his identity and refuses to sign a written record of the questioning.

According to the prefectural police, Iimori has received psychosomatic treatment and was issued a mental disorder certificate. The police will examine whether Iimori can be held criminally responsible.

Iimori lives with his parents in a condominium in Shinagawa Ward, and once lived in Suita. Some information suggests that he served in the Maritime Self-Defence Force from April to September 2009.

Investigators found Iimori lying on a bench in a forest in Minoo, Osaka Prefecture, and arrested him at 6.34am on Monday. The bench is about 8km north of the police box. When arrested, Iimori had approximately ¥100,000 (S$1,266) in cash and his driver's licence. There was a plastic bag underneath the bench containing the police handgun.

There were signs that one bullet out of five had been fired. At about 6am on Sunday, immediately after the attack, an explosive sound was heard in a residential area near the police box. Police are investigating the possibility that Iimori fired the gun while fleeing from the scene.

A suspicious man was recorded wandering around by a security camera at the Senriyama police box before the attack, and the prefectural police released a screen grab from the footage.

Iimori's father, an executive at Kansai Television, contacted the police, saying, "(The man in the screen grab) looks like my son."

A hotel in Suita also reported to police that a guest who stayed there last Friday night appeared to be the man in the image.

Based on such tips, the prefectural police concluded Iimori was involved in the attack and obtained an arrest warrant early Monday. The police also put Iimori on a nationwide wanted list.

The police collected security video footage from a wide range of areas in a bid to track Iimori's movements, and determined that a man who appeared to be Iimori was heading toward the forest in Minoo at about 8pm on Sunday. The police combed the forest after daybreak on Monday.

Osaka prefectural police chief Takahisa Ishida issued a statement saying: "I am sorry we caused fear among the people in the prefecture. We will try to ascertain the whole picture of the case and proceed with police activities for the peace and safety (of the public)." </s> Police on Tuesday sent a man suspected of stabbing a police officer and stealing his gun in Osaka Prefecture to prosecutors, one day after his arrest.

The police said Yujiro Iimori, 33, who is charged with attempted murder and robbery, attacked Suzunosuke Kose, 26, with a knife at 5:38 a.m. Sunday at a police box in the city of Suita.

The knife used in the attack had a blade as long as 15 centimeters. The police said it penetrated Kose's lung, reaching his heart. Kose was reportedly stabbed at least seven times and remains in a coma.

While Iimori has denied the allegations, he also blamed the incident on his illness, according to investigators. He is a holder of a mental disability certificate.

The police said about 10 minutes before the attack, someone, who gave the name of one of Imori's former classmates, called in a report of a home break-in.

The police suspect it was Iimori making a false report in an attempt to lure police officers from the police box, according to investigative sources.

Iimori had contacted a junior high school classmate through Facebook and asked for his address before the incident, the sources said.

About three and a half hours after the stabbing, a man with blood on his hands purchased clothes and shoes at a nearby shopping mall. Fingerprints left on the shoebox, which was left at the mall, and those on a knife cover found at the crime scene matched, according to the sources.

Iimori was arrested early Monday after the police found him on a bench on a mountain trail, not far from the crime scene and in possession of the stolen pistol.

The gun contained five bullets when stolen, but only four when it was retrieved, the police said. There were signs the gun had been fired and residents near the police box reported hearing an explosive sound about 20 minutes after the attack.

Iimori was wearing a light blue cap, a dark red jacket, navy pants and shoes at the time of his arrest. But security camera footage shows him walking around the police box just before the attack wearing a white cap.

The police suspect Iimori changed into different clothing as he fled and are now searching for the clothes and shoes he had on earlier. </s> Police on Monday arrested a man suspected of stabbing a police officer multiple times in Osaka Prefecture the previous day and stealing his pistol, an incident that came just days before the prefecture hosts the Group of 20 summit set to be attended by several world leaders.

Yujiro Iimori, 33, is alleged to have stabbed the officer, Suzunosuke Kose, 26, with a knife multiple times at a police box in the city of Suita, before fleeing the scene at around 5:40 a.m. on Sunday. He was carrying the gun when he was detained in the nearby city of Minoo, police said. Kose remains in critical condition.

Iimori denied the charges, saying, “It is not something I have done,” according to police. “It is because my disease got worse and because the people around me became bitter.”

He was carrying a mental disability certificate, investigators said.

The violent incident comes as police step up security in the nearby city of Osaka, which will host next week’s Group of 20 summit. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday that he takes the incident seriously.

“We will boost security as we are expecting the G20 summit next week,” he said, adding that the incident has left residents greatly concerned.

While Osaka police officials are relieved that the suspect has been arrested, they remain troubled that a police officer had his weapon stolen ahead of the G20 summit, adding that identifying measures to stop similar incidents is an urgent task.

Police departments across the country have been introducing new holsters designed to prevent officers from being disarmed. Since Kose was using an older-style holster, Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said he will ask the central government to allocate budget to replace such holsters with the new style as soon as possible.

Iimori was put on a nationwide wanted list early Monday.

The gun was loaded with five bullets when it was stolen, but only four were found in it when Iimori was arrested, police said.

No injuries or damage has been reported since the gun was stolen but several people living near the police box where the incident occurred said they heard a sound like gunfire about 20 minutes after the attack. Police are investigating whether it was the sound of the gun being fired.

Iimori was apprehended in a mountain forest in Minoo, north of Suita, at around 6:35 a.m. Monday, after images of a person resembling him were recorded on security cameras.

When found by police, Iimori was lying on a wooden bench with a backpack under his head. The pistol was inside a plastic bag under the bench, according to police.

Authorities had been contacted by Iimori’s father, who said the suspect shown in surveillance camera footage, released by police, appeared to be his son, investigative sources said. The father said his son had been living in Tokyo until shortly before the stabbing.

A man resembling the person in the footage had stayed at a hotel in Suita on Friday, the sources added.

Kose was apparently attacked after two fellow officers left the police box to respond to an emergency call reporting a break-in at a home. Police had received a call at around 5:30 a.m. from a man at a public pay phone at Kandaimae Station, claiming that his apartment had been ransacked by a burglar.

Images from multiple security cameras taken immediately after the call showed a man running toward the police box.

The two senior police officers rushed to the apartment on motorcycles, ahead of Kose. As Kose was preparing to follow the two at around 5:40 a.m., he was stabbed seven times with a 15-centimeter cooking knife. One of the stab wounds was to the left side of his chest.

He is believed to have been attacked just as he climbed onto his motorcycle, not having had time to draw his gun to defend himself. The motorcycle was found overturned close to where Kose was found bleeding near the police box. The reported break-in later proved to be a false report.

One of Kose’s stab wounds showed that the knife blade, which passed through a gap in his bulletproof vest, penetrated his lung and reached his heart, according to investigative sources. The suspect bought a jacket and a pair of trousers at an Aeon supermarket some 5 kilometers from the police box shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday, just after it had opened for the day.

An employee at the supermarket made an emergency call to police after noticing that the customer’s hand was bloodstained.

The stabbing shocked locals, forcing supermarkets and libraries to close and public events, including flea markets, to be canceled.

Police had called on residents to lock their doors and refrain from venturing outside.

Iimori, a resident of Shinagawa Ward in Tokyo, had been working part-time as a cleaner at a golf practice range in adjacent Ota Ward since November, according to his co-workers. His father works as an executive at Kansai Television Co.

On June 10, he applied for leave, complaining of a mental health problem. Iimori initially planned to take three days off, but later told his boss that it would be difficult for him to go back to work before the end of June.

On Saturday afternoon, Iimori telephoned his boss and said that he would likely be able to start working again around June 25.

According to former classmates and a Facebook account believed to be his, Iimori graduated from Komazawa University in Tokyo after studying at elementary, junior high and high schools in Suita.

Between April and September 2009 Iimori had worked as a seaman apprentice in the Maritime Self-Defense Force. During that time he worked aboard a destroyer but never handled pistols while on duty, according to a Defense Ministry source.

In a statement, Takahisa Ishida, head of the Osaka Prefectural Police Department, said, “We apologize for the great worry we have caused local residents and appreciate the information that has been offered to investigators.”

Some locals expressed relief following the arrest of the suspect. </s> OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested a man for allegedly stabbing a police officer and stealing his gun in Suita City on Sunday, reports Fuji News Network (June 17).

At around 5:30 a.m. Yujiro Iimori, 33, allegedly used a knife to stab 26-year-old officer Suzunosuke Kose at the Senriyama Police Box. He then stole the officer’s gun, containing five rounds of ammunition, before fleeing the scene.

Kose is currently unconscious in a hospital, police said.

After police publicly released security camera footage showing the suspected perpetrator, Iimori’s father contacted police, believing the person was his son.

At around 6:30 a.m. on Monday, officers apprehended Iimori in Mino City on suspicion of attempted murder. The gun, which contained four bullets, was also retrieved from the suspect.

The stabbing took place after two colleagues responded to call about a break-in. Police later determined that the call, which turned out to be fake, was made from public phone located about 800 meters from the police box, police said.

Police are now seeking a motive for the crime. </s> Japanese police on Monday arrested a man suspected of stabbing a police officer in the chest and stealing his gun near Osaka, just days before world leaders fly into the city for a G-20 summit.

[TOKYO] Japanese police on Monday arrested a man suspected of stabbing a police officer in the chest and stealing his gun near Osaka, just days before world leaders fly into the city for a G-20 summit.

The 33-year-old suspect, who denies the charges, was in possession of an ID document showing he was mentally disabled, an Osaka regional police detective told AFP.

The police officer, 22, is still in a coma, the detective added. His gun was found later with one bullet missing.

The incident, a rare case of violent crime in Japan, hit national headlines due to the proximity of the attack to the G-20, which will be held in the western city on June 28 and 29.

"We have not yet studied what impact this will have on the G-20 security plan," Takahisa Ishida, chief of the Osaka police, told local media.

US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be among the leaders jetting in for the summit, with tens of thousands of aides in tow.

More than 25,000 police officers will reportedly be mobilised to provide security in Osaka during the summit meetings.

"We will do our best on security measures ahead of the G-20 next week," top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Monday when asked about the incident.

A recent meeting of G-20 finance ministers in the western city of Fukuoka was held under extremely high security, with areas around the meeting in total lockdown. </s> A police officer was stabbed and his pistol was stolen in the northern Osaka Prefecture city of Suita, authorities said Sunday, with the male suspect who fled the scene yet to be apprehended.

The 26-year-old officer Suzunosuke Kose was found at a police box with a knife embedded in the left side of his chest and other stab wounds. Emergency services were notified of the incident at around 5:40 a.m., according to police.

Kose was apparently attacked after two fellow officers on duty left the police box to respond to an emergency call reporting a home break-in. The police believe that it was a false report.

The suspect, who is facing potential robbery and attempted murder charges, is thought to be in his 30s and is about 170-180 centimeters tall.

Surveillance camera footage showed a man loitering around the police box, which is located in front of Hankyu Railway’s Senriyama Station, about an hour before the incident.

The gun was loaded with five bullets when it was stolen.

Schools in the northern Osaka area have been instructed to cancel events and club activities, Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said on Twitter.

The incident happened at a time when the prefectural police have been stepping up security in the nearby city of Osaka where a meeting of leaders from the Group of 20 major economies will be held late this month.

Police departments in Japan have been introducing new pistol holsters designed to prevent officers from being disarmed following a series of serious incidents in which there was a struggle for a firearm.

Kose was using an older-style holster, according to the police.

In January, a university student armed with a knife and hammer slightly injured an officer at a police station in the city of Toyama. The student, who was arrested on the spot, told investigators he tried to steal a gun so he could use it to commit suicide.

Also in Toyama in June last year, a former member of the Self-Defense Forces stabbed an officer to death at a police box, stole his handgun and fatally shot a security guard at a nearby school. </s> Police officers investigating the site where a police officer was found stabbed and the officer's gun, loaded with several bullets, was stolen, in Suita, Osaka prefecture, western Japan, on June 16, 2019.

TOKYO - A Japanese police officer was stabbed several times in the chest with a kitchen knife and had his loaded handgun stolen while on patrol on Sunday (June 16) morning in the western city of Suita, in a rare case of violent crime in Japan, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The attack, which police believe may have been pre-meditated, sparked a manhunt with police using loudspeakers at a railway station to warn people to be on alert.

The stabbing comes two weeks before Japan hosts a leaders' summit of the Group of 20 major economies in the neighbouring city of Osaka. It also follows an incident last month in which a knife-wielding middle-aged man killed a girl and an adult, injuring another 17 people near Tokyo.

Violent crime is relatively rare in Japan but occasional high-profile incidents have shocked the nation.

"It's scary that a handgun was stolen. I want this to be resolved quickly," a male neighbour said.

"A kindergarten's open day was cancelled due to this incident. My kids cannot go out. It's scary," another man said.

The 26-year-old police officer was found lying on the ground with a kitchen knife stabbed in his left chest around 5.30am local time on Sunday (4.30am Singapore time), reported NHK.

He was attacked in front of a police box, as he likely followed two officers after a telephone call reporting a theft.

Police suspect the attack may have been premeditated, as nothing else was stolen and a security camera showed a man, who appeared in his 30s, hanging around the police box about an hour before the stabbing, said NHK. </s> A police officer was stabbed and his pistol was stolen in the northern Osaka Prefecture city of Suita, authorities said Sunday, with the male suspect who fled the scene yet to be apprehended.

The 26-year-old officer, Suzunosuke Kose, was found at a koban (police box) with serious injuries and a knife embedded in the left side of his chest. Emergency services were notified of the incident at around 5:40 a.m., according to police.

Kose was apparently attacked after two fellow officers left the police box to respond to an emergency call reporting a home break-in. A pay phone about 800 meters south of the police box was used for the call, which the police said was a false report.

The suspect, who is facing robbery and attempted murder charges, is thought to be around 30 years old and is about 170-180 centimeters tall.

Surveillance camera footage showed a man loitering around the police box, which is located in front of Hankyu Railway's Senriyama Station, about an hour before the incident. The police released footage of the man.

The gun was loaded with five bullets when it was stolen.

The incident shocked local residents and led some nearby universities to cancel open campus events.

"The police officers here were all nice. I hope the suspect will be caught before the gun is used," a 49-year-old woman said.

Osaka Gov Hirofumi Yoshimura tweeted a warning to Suita residents, asking them to be especially mindful of children's safety. He also said that schools in the northern Osaka area had been instructed to cancel events and club activities for the day.

The incident happened at a time when the prefectural police have been stepping up security in the nearby city of Osaka where a meeting of leaders from the Group of 20 major economies will be held late this month.

Police departments in Japan have been introducing new pistol holsters designed to prevent officers from being disarmed following a series of serious incidents in which there was a struggle for a firearm.

Kose was using an older-style holster and a clip that was meant to keep his pistol attached to a cable had come off, according to the police.

The incident in Suita is the latest in a string of similar attacks on police in Japan.

In January, a university student armed with a knife and hammer slightly injured an officer at a police station in Toyama. The student, who was arrested on the spot, told investigators he tried to steal a gun so he could use it to commit suicide.

In June last year, a former member of the Self-Defense Forces stabbed to death an officer at a police box in Toyama, stole his handgun and fatally shot a security guard at a nearby school.
A man identified as Yujiro Iimori, who allegedly stabbed and robbed a police officer of his gun, is arrested in Osaka, Japan. He presents a mental health certificate as defense.