Amid Olympics, Stabbing On Tokyo Train Injures At Least 10

Amid the Olympics in the Japanese capital, a knife-wielding man injured at least 9 people on a Tokyo commuter train Friday, Japanese public television NHK reported.

One person was seriously injured and unable to walk away, while the remaining victims were taken to nearby hospitals, NHK reported. According to Tokyo police and fire department officials, the suspect was captured after he fled to a convenience store and reportedly left his knife and phone at the scene.

The Associated Press reported that at least 10 were injured in the stabbings. The attacks come just before the end of the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.

The railway operator was alerted to the attack that occurred around 8:30 p.m., forcing the train to make an emergency stop, NHK reported. According to investigators, the perpetrator was a man in his 20s who fled the train by jumping onto the tracks.

One company worker said passengers were screaming and fleeing to different cars, NHK reported. Some of the passengers said they learned what had happened on Twitter.

Another witness at a station nearby reported seeing passengers emerging from the train covered in blood, the AP reported. Deaths from shootings are rare in Japan, but in recent years knife killings have been on the rise.

In 2019, two people were killed and 17 were injured after a knife wielding attack that targeted a group of girls at a bus stop outside of Tokyo. The attacker ultimately killed himself.

During another 2016 incident on a Japanese bullet train, a man killed one person and injured two others in a knife attack. In 2016, a disabled home former employee reportedly killed 19 people and injured over 20 others.