HYOGO (TR) – A male university student in custody over an attack with a crossbow in Takarazuka City last week that left three relatives dead used a total of five bolts in the incident, police said, reports TBS News (June 6).
On June 6, police sent 23-year-old Hideaki Nozu to prosecutors at the Kobe District Public Prosecutor’s Office on suspicion of attempted murder. “I intended to kill all of the members of my family,” the suspect previously told police in admitting to the allegations.
The morning before, emergency personnel responding to a distress call arrived at the residence and confirmed Nozu’s grandmother, 75-year-old Yoshimi, his mother, 47-year-old Mayumi, and younger brother, 22-year-old Hideyuki, dead at the scene.
The suspect’s aunt, 49-year-old Yurie, is currently in a hospital receiving medical care.
Three of the four victims had been shot with one bolt each. However, the body of Hideyuki was found with a bolt lodged in his head and another nearby that struck him but later became dislodged, police said.
Nozu was living at the residence with his grandmother and younger brother. Officers apprehended the suspect on a road near the residence.
According to Mainichi Broadcasting System (June 7), a neighbor heard the suspect’s aunt say that he was wearing a bicycle helmet during the attack. “She had a bolt protruding about 30 centimeters from beneath her left ear,” the witness said.
