Whether he worked there has not been verified. If so, he was hospitalized immediately after being fired. Motive still unclear. More at the link, not many known facts.
RT link above is still saying 45 injured, adding to their last update: "Twenty of the injured are in critical condition, the national fire department, which also performs emergency medical care, has said."
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25m ago
Suspect involuntarily hospitalised after saying he would kill disabled peopleSatoshi Uematsu, the man arrested in connection with the mass stabbing that has left 19 people dead and up to 26 wounded, was hospitalised earlier this year after he said he would kill disabled people, a city official has told Reuters.
Authorities said Uematsu had been “involuntarily committed” to hospital on 19 February, after police in the town of Tsukui near Tokyo contacted him in response to a letter he had attempted to pass to the speaker of the lower house of Japan’s parliament.
In the letter, Uematsu reportedly argued that the government should permit euthanasia for disabled people, and said he would be willing to carry out such killings himself.
He was released from hospital on 2 March.
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3h ago
There has been no suggestion that the attack was fuelled by Islamist extremism, but officials have now confirmed that this is not a motive they are considering.Reuters reports:
Japan’s top government spokesman said on Tuesday he had been told that 19 people were dead after an attack by a knife-wielding man at a facility for the disabled in central Japan.
Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga also told a news conference that police had not obtained any information to suggest there was a link between the attack and Islamist extremism.
Officials in Kanagawa prefecture say the suspect, identified as Satoshi Uematsu, had worked at the Tsukui Yamayuri En facility until February.
Japanese broadcaster NTV has reported that Uematsu was upset because he had been fired, but that has not been independently confirmed.
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