A man attacked two junior high school girls with a knife in the northeastern Japan city of Sendai while they were walking to school on Thursday morning, wounding one of them seriously, the Miyagi prefectural police said.
The police arrested Hiroyuki Owari, 43, who lives in the neighborhood, on suspicion of attempting to murder one of the girls. "I did it to commit a murder and go to jail," the suspect was quoted as telling investigators.
He was also quoted as confessing to them, "I repeatedly stabbed their backs with a kitchen knife from home."
Owari allegedly attacked the pair on a street at around 8 a.m. and chased them as they fled, slashing them further, an investigative source said. It appears he and the victims had not known each other.
One of the girls suffered serious wounds, while the other sustained minor injuries, but both have multiple wounds, including on their backs, according to the source.
A woman in her 70s who lives near the scene said she saw one of the girls collapsed in front of the entrance to a residence and surrounded by police.
A man in his 60s said he saw Owari being arrested. "Police restrained his arms, and he was compliant."
