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Gifu cops: Dentist stabbed to death in clinic

A dentist was stabbed to death by a patient at a clinic in Gifu City
A dentist was stabbed to death by a patient at a clinic in Gifu City

GIFU (TR) – Gifu Prefectural Police have arrested a 58-year-old male patient of a dental clinic in Gifu City in the stabbing death of the facility’s director, reports NHK (Jan. 20).

At 2:15 p.m. on Friday, emergency services receive a call from an employee at Fuchino Clinic, saying “the director is injured and bleeding after a patient got violent.”

Officers arriving at the scene found dentist Takao Fuchino, 50, collapsed and bleeding from wounds, likely from a knife, to his neck and arms in an examination room. He was confirmed dead at a nearby hospital at just after 3:00 p.m.

Police arrested Nobuyuki Nagahama on a road several hundred meters from the clinic on charges of attempted murder. “I came to kill him,” the suspect is quoted by police, according to TV Asahi (Jan. 20).

Just prior to the incident, Nagahama entered the clinic and said he “wanted to speak with the director.” The crime took place after they both entered the examination room. A knife used in the stabbing was brought from the suspect’s home, reports Nippon News Network (Jan. 21).

Two days before, both the suspect and victim consulted with police over a dispute regarding a dental treatment.

Police are investigating whether to change the charge to murder.