2008 Akihabara massacre
| Akihabara massacre | |
|---|---|
The crossing in Akihabara shortly after the incident | |
| Location | Akihabara, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan |
| Coordinates | 35°41′59″N 139°46′17″E / 35.69972°N 139.77139°E |
| Date | 8 June 2008 12:33–12:36 (JST) |
Attack type | Mass murder, vehicle-ramming attack, stabbing |
| Weapons | Isuzu Elf truck, Smith & Wesson HRT dagger |
| Deaths | 7 |
| Injured | 11 (Including the perpetrator) |
| Perpetrator | Tomohiro Katō |
The Akihabara massacre (Japanese: 秋葉原通り魔事件, Hepburn: Akihabara Tōrima Jiken) was an incident of mass murder that took place on 8 June 2008, in the Akihabara shopping quarter in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The perpetrator, 25-year-old Tomohiro Katō (加藤 智大, Katō Tomohiro) of Susono, Shizuoka, drove into a crowd with a rented truck, initially killing three people and injuring two. He then stabbed at least twelve people using a dagger, killing four and injuring eight.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested Katō on suspicion of attempted murder, holding him at Manseibashi police station. Two days later, on 10 June, he was sent to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office. He was rearrested on 20 June on suspicion of murder. Katō was sentenced to death by the Tokyo District Court in 2011. The sentence was upheld on appeal in 2015, and he was executed on 26 July 2022.