Kyota Hattori, a cos-player gone amok

The 24-year-old man dressed as a movie character Joker who injured at least seventeen train passengers with a knife on Sunday in Tokyo wanted to kill as many people as he can, reports the Japanese police.

As early as June, suspect Kyota Hattori would have started preparing for his attack. He resigned from his then employer and spent the following months in several cities on his route to Tokyo, where he arrived a month ago. The defendant has stated that “things did not go well with work and friends”.

The attack took place on Halloween, on a train in the Japanese capital. Hattori, dressed as the villainous character Joker from The Batman movies, attacked people with a knife purchased on the internet and set fire to the train.

Passengers ran through the train car in panic and climbed out the windows. The condition of one victim with multiple stab wounds is severe. Sixteen others have been treated for minor injuries, particularly as a result of smoke inhalation.

Officers managed to apprehend the man on the spot. It was announced earlier that he had declared that he wanted to kill people and that he wanted the death penalty. Hattori would be a fan of the dark Batman character.