TOKYO (TR) – A woman working as a Japanese idol was stabbed repeatedly at a fan event and hospitalized in critical condition, police said on Saturday.
Koganei Station police responded to an emergency call at around 5 p.m. reporting that a woman in her 20s was stabbed multiple times by a man wielding a knife-like object in a building in the Honcho area of Koganei City, the Sankei Shimbun reports (May 21).
Police apprehended the suspect, 27-year-old Tomohiro Iwazaki, who was found near the crime scene, and plan to charge him with inflicting bodily injury.
A source involved in the investigation said the victim, Mayu Tomita, was holding a fan greeting event in a room in the building. Police believe Iwazaki is one of her fans.
Tomita was part of a five-member group that was scheduled to hold an event in a nearby building at 7 p.m.
The emergency call was made by a witness who told police a “woman was stabbed.”
Saw-wielding man
The latest case is not the first time an idol star was injured at a fan event.
A man swung a saw around and slashed three AKB48 members at a fan handshake event in Takizawa City, Iwate Prefecture, in May 2014. The suspect told police that he was aiming for “anyone that was an AKB48 member.”