Resentful Japan man admits driving SUV into schoolchildren in Osaka

The 28-year-old suspect, who recently quit his job, told police he had deliberately targeted the children as they walked home from school

A man in Japan who was arrested for attempted murder after ploughing his car into a group of primary schoolchildren last week reportedly harboured deep resentment towards those he perceived as living comfortable lives.

A seven-year-old girl was seriously injured in the incident in Osaka, suffering a fractured jaw, while six others – all boys – escaped with minor bruises and scratches, local reports said.

The suspect, identified as Yuki Yazawa, 28, was arrested at the scene in the city’s Nishinari ward, Senbonnaka 2-chome district, on Thursday.

Investigative sources told The Japan Times newspaper that he had admitted to disliking people “living without hardship”.

Yazawa told police he had deliberately targeted the seven children as they were walking home from school, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

“I was fed up with everything, so I crashed my car into a crowd of people, intending to kill them,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “I tried to run over the schoolchildren.”

An eyewitness described seeing the rented SUV Yazawa was driving zigzagging when it struck the children, according to Nippon TV.

Investigators told the Asahi that no brake marks were visible on the pavement, suggesting the vehicle never slowed. A former police officer, now working as a school support worker and present at the scene, corroborated this, adding that the SUV’s brake lights did not illuminate during the attack.

Yazawa, who The Japan Times reported had recently quit his job as a radiographer, rented the SUV from a shop near Shin-Osaka Station on Tuesday and had kept it past the Thursday morning return deadline.

‘It’s heartbreaking’

Japan, often celebrated as one of the world’s safest countries and renowned for its low crime rate, was left stunned by the incident. In a country where children often walk to and from school without adult supervision, parents in Osaka were visibly shaken.

“It’s heartbreaking to think about the kids who were victims,” a 29-year-old mother told the Asahi. Her seven-year-old son, whose classmate was one of the injured, was too frightened to walk to school alone. “He told me to come pick him up at school,” she said.

On the morning after the attack, police and parents escorted children to the municipal Senbon Elementary School in the rain. A father in his thirties, who accompanied his second-grader, gave voice to the unease gripping the community.

“The incident happened yesterday, so I decided to accompany my son this morning. As a parent, incidents like this make me feel scared,” he said.