SHIZUOKA (TR) – Shizuoka Prefectural Police arrested a 38-year-old man who is suspected of going on stabbing rampage that injured 15 persons at a factory in Mishima City on Friday, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Dec. 26).
At around 4:30 p.m., an individual associated with the Yokohama Rubber Mishima Factory called the fire department. “Someone stabbed five or six people with a knife and sprayed a liquid on them.”
According to the Mount Fuji Southeast Fire Department, 15 people were injured in multiple attacks with a knife at various locations on the factory grounds. Triage to determine treatment priorities has determined that five of them are seriously injured.
Police arriving at the scene arrested suspect Masaki Koyama, who claims to live near the factory, on suspicion of attempted murder.
According to the Mishima Police Station, Koyama is suspected of stabbing a 28-year-old office worker from the city with what appeared to be a knife on the Mishima Factory grounds.
Investigators said the suspect was carrying what appeared to be a survival knife and wearing a gas mask. There are also reports that something resembling chlorine bleach was sprayed.
Yokohama Rubber is headquartered in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, and its Mishima Plant in Mishima City manufactures passenger car tires. The plant’s site covers an area of 112,000 square meters. As of December 2024, it employs 987 people. It’s located very close to Mishima Futsukamachi Station on the Izu-Hakone Railway.
