9 Injured After Car Rams Into Crowd in Tokyo in Domestic Terror Attack on New Year’s Day

A car plowed into crowds who were celebrating the passing of the New Year early on Jan. 1 in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward, Japan, leaving a total of nine people injured.

Police said eight people were hurt by the car when it car drove into the crowd, including a young male who was taken to hospital in critical condition, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo. A ninth man was slightly injured after the driver had allegedly struck him after getting out of the car.

Teenagers and adults in their 50s are among the victims, according to RT.

A police spokesman said a man has been detained over the incident and that he had described the incident as an “act of terror,” Reuters reported.

Police arrested Kazuhiro Kusakabe, 21, on suspicion of attempted murder. He had been driving a rental car with an Osaka license plate, Kyodo reported.

Kusakabe had tried to flee the scene but was captured about 20 minutes after the incident, RT reported.

Kyodo reported that investigative sources said the man claimed he had intentionally committed an act of terrorism “in retaliation for an execution” and “would not make any excuse” for what he did.

“It was not immediately clear whether he was referring to a specific execution or Japan’s system of capital punishment,” the news agency reported.

In 2018, Japan executed 15 people, matching the highest-ever figure met in 2008 since the Japanese government resumed the death penalty in 1993. In early July 2018, Japan executed 13 members of the Aum Shinrikyo sect that was responsible for the sarin gas attack in a Tokyo subway in 1995.

A police vehicle (L) sits parked at an entrance leading to Takeshita Street the morning after a man drove into the crowd on New Year's Eve in Tokyo's fashion district of Harajuku on Jan. 1, 2019.Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images

The incident took place in a popular fashion district and tourist area of Harajuku on Takeshita Street, near Meiji Shrine, in central Tokyo. Hundreds were heading to the shrine to pray for good luck, heralding in the New Year.

The street had been closed to traffic at the time because large crowds were expected in the area for New Year’s Eve celebrations.

“I can’t believe it. This is a place I’m familiar with, so it’s very shocking,” Tatsuhiro Yaegashi, a 27-year-old worker in the area, said according to Reuters.

Police and riot police were called to the scene. As of 5 a.m. local time, most people had dispersed from the area, Kyodo reported.

Local TV footage showed the small van with a smashed-up front end as ambulance workers and police officers rushed to the scene.

From NTD.com