crime

17-yr-old girl held for threatening massacre in Internet message

67 Comments

Police on Monday said a 17-year-old girl living in Fukuoka on Saturday posted a threatening message in which she said she would kill people at a train station in Kyushu. She used the same online bulletin board as Tomohiro Kato, the suspect in the Akihabara stabbing spree in Tokyo. Police said they intend to send her to prosecutors.

According to police, around 7:19 a.m. on Saturday, the girl posted the message which said: “I intend to carry out a massacre at a station in Kyushu which will go down in history. I'm the same as Kato. I feel sympathy for him. I will be executed because I will kill more people than he did.”

After the message was reported, prefectural police in Kyushu and JR mobilized security personnel at stations. The girl was quoted by police as saying, “I was just joking. I didn't imagine it would turn into such a big deal.”

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67 Comments
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Oops, sorry- should be- This girl is like many teenagers today,they do not know how or in what way, to contribute to society.

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This girl, is like many teenagers today, they do not how or in what way, to contribute to society's betterment.

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This is one sick kid. Lock her up, and that will teach her a lesson about how to "joke around" properly....

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Similar thing happened here - bomb threat by a 15yo girl. She claimed innocence, saying that someone else told her to do it. She was punished. If she hadn't been, I would've started a petition to have her punished. We can't let people do these things and think they're funny or no big deal. It's not funny. It is a big deal. In Japan, is a parent or guardian responsible for their child under 18yo? If so, they should be charged as well.

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I'm not sure if I believe that she is dangerous; however, to me, thats not the point. There are 2 reasons for arrests in my mind: to keep the general populace safe and to punish individuals. This girl needs to be punished. I would hope that she gets much more than a fine. Forgive me if I seem harsh, but there are lessons she needs to learn that life hasn't taught to her in 17 years. Besides, dropping the hammer might discourage other wannabe comedians.

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pizzaboy,

u could read news in the safest countries in the world (hey, japan is one of em too!) and you'll STILL read horror stories everyday. The "overprotective parent" syndrome is in full effect with the readers of Japantoday, most of whom are pessimistic foreigners.

Thank you so much for explaining how we all should feel! Now I see! Japan is a relatively safe country, so we should ignore all signs of problems or dangers with our young people. That way, we can become like your country! I am sorry. There is nothing wrong with checking out threats of murder that are posted on the internet. Your 'don't worry about it' aside, some of us care about our young people and our society...

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I think she needs to learn a lesson. Arrested and held for 2 weeks. threatened that she'd be in jail and generally have the cr@p scared out of her. Then just before you release her give her 10 lashings of the rattan cane and tell her to have a nice day and hope she learned her lesson.

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I agree with most people on this site that regardless of the age of the girl, her threat must be taken seriously even if she was telling the truth that it was just a joke.

However, to follow some of the suggestions of incarceration or worse seems a bit like a mob mentality. I'm sure that we all have our own theories about why she wrote what she did, but no one here really knows what she was thinking.

If cooler heads prevail, her case will be looked at carefully to determine what, if any, her motivations were. Should someone determines that she was indeed serious I can't imagine that her punishment would be all that severe since all she did was utter threats. With that in mind, I'm pretty certain that all she'll really get is a slap on the wrist. Of course I'm not really knowledgeable on Japanese laws and any subsequent penalties for death threats.

So far, she hasn't even been arrested yet, unless I am misunderstanding the word "held". If the police do believe her story that it was all a joke, I wonder what they might do, or what they are even allowed to do.

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I live in Massachusetts and a ten year old was taken from his parents and may be expelled from school because of a stick figure drawing he made so everyone the world over take stupid kids either too seriously or not serious enough. There is no litmus test for evil and you can't tell when some fool is mouthing off or is really going to do something horrible so you have to ere on the side of caution and put the publics safety ahead of the rights of an individual in a situation when violence is threatened.

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wow, the girls are getting in on the act too. If she really was joking she must not have thought this through too well.

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she sounds pretty hardcore

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Lock her up and throw away the keys as an example to other depraved individuals who might also want to copycat Kato. There are far too many people like this in Nippon, unfortunately.

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She messed up, but if the justice went that for, then we're probably more likely to see worse things in the news than a mere prank or threat. Getting caught is a good lesson for this girl.

You really think so?, I think that this "girl" deserves going to a trial and get psychiatric evaluation. She doesn't sympathize with the victims, besides, she said "I will kill more than Kato", it soundad like she wanted to win the score made by Kato and then be killed. And then to say, "I was joking" to me it's like she was off her rocker... and the threat cannot be ignored, not because the likelihood of this particular girl going through with it, but for inspiring other copycats and planting panic on the population.

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Willib

Most teens? My son is 17 and does not plan mass murder, nor jokes about it on the internet. Nor does any other 17 year old I know.

I said most teens crave attention, not print sick jokes. And i doubt there was any serious planning like you stated. And of course most teens don't go to this extreme, but do/have done things to garnish attention. Regarding your son, my sincerest congratulations, how proud you must be.

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Laugh all you want. If you think no students have killed each other or others in this country, it just goes to show how little you read the news.

u could read news in the safest countries in the world (hey, japan is one of em too!) and you'll STILL read horror stories everyday. The "overprotective parent" syndrome is in full effect with the readers of Japantoday, most of whom are pessimistic foreigners.

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Japan is way too safe if this is what you are afraid of.

Laugh all you want. If you think no students have killed each other or others in this country, it just goes to show how little you read the news.

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I dont think a 17 year old girl could rent a truck. 6foot 4 and 300 pounds? That actually made me laugh out loud. You can spectate and make scenarios and comparisons to violence in schools, but there is no way you will get me to take a 17 year old Japanese schoolgirl as a threat seriously. The very writing of it in a sentence is making me laugh and mistype. Japan is way too safe if this is what you are afraid of.

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WilliB,

he wrestled first, got stabbed 3 times when his judo did not work against the super human feeling killer, then he backed off and drew his gun. didn't put his personal safety first at the slightest, saved a few people by chasing Kato down a side street and did not kill the murderer even though having full justification. Probably the nicest guy in the world, and a hero to boot. The guy deserves a medal, promotion and a huge bonus.

the fact is, Karate x 10 is nothing compared to a complete psychopathic killer with human blood in his mouth. The cop did great.

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Most jokes are half truth. I do believe the girl never would have carried anything out, and that she's just crying out for help, but she's going to get all the consequences she deserves for it, and more..... if she thought life sucked before, it's going to REALLY suck now. Even if her family is forced to move (by forced, I mean be compelled to) her name is still out there and people everywhere will shun the girl. What an idiot.

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Joke?! Pure stupidity more like. I just dont know what this society (everyone) is doing to the younger generation that makes them so depressed, or think that they should "Joke". She should be prosecuted. Sutpid! Stupid! Stupid!

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pizzaboy:

" most of u don't understand teenagers and have forgotten what it's like to be one. This girl just wanted attention, like most teens, pure and simple. "

Most teens? My son is 17 and does not plan mass murder, nor jokes about it on the internet. Nor does any other 17 year old I know.

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KaptainKichigai:

" I dont know what she looks like or is capable of? Shes a 17 year old high school girl. Shes capable of staring at her cellphone and spending 1.5 man yen on her fingernails. "

Would you be more impressed if she is behind the wheel of a truck? I believe that is called a "force multiplier". Her pretty finger nails won`t help you.

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The girl was either very foolish or serious.

most of u don't understand teenagers and have forgotten what it's like to be one. This girl just wanted attention, like most teens, pure and simple.

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A cry for help?

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williamsmith at 03:19 PM JST - 16th June It was just a joke, not so funny but maybe dry humour or something or the sort. The lass is just writing, what happened to freedom of expression?

There is such a thing as freedom of expression, but shouldn't it be tempered with some common sense? Making a threat can be relatively insignificant (I'm gonna kick your a**), or it can be much more serious, as this case was. This is clearly the equivalent of assault as people truly felt threatened. Anyone can yell "fire!" in a crowded theatre, but I seriously doubt that society would regard it as a "joke."

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KaptainKichigai,

Oh excuse, I didn't realize I was exchanging ideas with 'Rambo'. However, even with honor of your fantastic expertise in 'dangerous places', some of us would like Japan to not be a dangerous place. Furthermore, one could reasonably ask you how the dangerous places you have been to got that way. I would like to suggest complacency as one possible factor.

Looking at the suspect in the Akihabara incident, I don't see a Rambo scary type. Yet, look what he managed to do. In addition, you conveniently overlooked my reference to the 12 year old (I believe) Japanese junior high school girl who slashed her classmate's throat in the school club room and left her to bleed to death. My guess is you would have said you same speech if it had been that killer who wrote this message and you would have been wrong.

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get her outta the gene pool

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KaptainKichigai: how do you know she isn't 6'4" and weighs 300lbs? I know I sure as hell wouldn't want to get into a fight with a woman that big!! My point being, which you so obviously missed, is that age has nothing to do with it. If she's capable of writing threats like she did, what's not to say she's capable of carrying them out?

I didn't realize someone had to be a certain age before they could be considered a threat!

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/teen_killers/index.html

And one of them was just 15!

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Well, Kichigai, the police wouldn't know she's a 17 year old girl until they went and picked her up, at which point they pretty much have to take her in. It would sound pretty silly to say "Oh, you're only a 17 year old gir? Right, sorry to bother you. We'll just go back to the station now."

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and 75 percent of police work is stereotyping. Stereotypes exist. I dont know what she looks like or is capable of? Shes a 17 year old high school girl. Shes capable of staring at her cellphone and spending 1.5 man yen on her fingernails.

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This girl should definitely be punished, joke or otherwise. She's had 17 years to accumulate enough common sense to know better than to make 'jokes' like that.

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The girl was either very foolish or serious. Either way she needs help to see why what she wrote would alarm people. Of course 20years is an equally foolish response.

But there is a frightening development here too. Big brother is not only watching, he (they) are ready to come get you if they so choose. It is sad how the actions of a few nut bags results in the majority's liberty being limited or restrained. Look at brother Bush and his Patriot Act. Fear is the greatest danger to political and social liberty.

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It's true this could have become something more than just a joke threat. Japan's in danger of becoming too unpredictable. There used to be a time when you knew exactly what was going to happen, and when... sometimes even time your watch by it. Things were a lot safer for everybody when Japan was nice and boring.

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Here's another story about someone threatening to go 'Akihabara'.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080616p2a00m0na015000c.html

This guy just might have actually done it.

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It was just a joke, not so funny but maybe dry humour or something or the sort. The lass is just writing, what happened to freedom of expression?

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If it was a joke its the stupidest one I have ever been notified of... ever! Either way she doesn't belong on society. She needs help... and id say there are thousands out there who need it to. If they like using the internet so much why doesn't the J government set up and online forum or service where they can get such help. Id help for no charge.

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Just out of interest, over on the Japanese Yahoo! page there is a story about the cops arresting people "one after another" for placing threats on the Internet. Talk about play time for children! I hope the cops bring their full resources to bear and go after such people with a vengeance.

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“I was just joking. I didn’t imagine it would turn into such a big deal.”

what a stupid dumb@rse! hang her anyway before she breeds....

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People read too much mangas/watch too much anime. It is a case similar to Misa adoring Light Yagami's work.

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I wouldn't go as far as calling her a mental case - she's probably just painfully unaware that stirring up people on the internet can have real-life consequences.

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timorborder at 10:34 AM JST - 16th June

"I hope they send a strong message to this girl that making such threats is definitely "a big deal." Although a minor, they should get out Japan's Criminal Statutes and pile on every charge they can (and some they cannot), to bury this clown and force her parents into bankruptcy, either through legal fees and/or fines. Also, I would like to see this girl's picture, name and address publicized all over the Internet and around where she lives so those around her can congratulate her on that terrific sense of humor she has."

She messed up, but if the justice went that for, then we're probably more likely to see worse things in the news than a mere prank or threat. Getting caught is a good lesson for this girl.

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Youdontknow,

What`s someone with a reasonable view of reality doing here on JT?

I like the calls for psychiatric help. I can give her an examination myself right now. She`s messed up.

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I just passed by Hakata station and all the J cops are there.

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This girl definitely needs psychiatric treatment. It should be a part of her sentence. I think she will probably go for a fine and suspended jail, but I really hope she will also be forced to follow a psychiatric evaluation and treatment.

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I agree with Youdontknow.

KaptainKichigai,

You may have a short memory, however most of us remember not too long ago when a 12 year old girl slit another students throat right in her school here in Japan. You might think this is 'cute' and 'funny'. I doubt many people share your sense of humour.

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BIG BROTHER has been awakened!

God help us all!!

S

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20 years in the slammer should help her realise what's a joke and what's not.

KaptainKichigai...we don't know what she looks like or what she's capable of. You don't have to be a certain age to be a monster or killer. Seems to me you're the perfect example of someone who stereotypes, which is why you're not a policeman, detective or investigator.

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Having trouble with the 17 year old girlies Japan? I am SO relieved this terrifying, monster is off the street. SO SCARY.....Wow a A 17 year old girl on a rampage, now that is a terror threat.

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haha! kidding my foot. just kill her

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cleo, I saw that one too. The tone of the guy on the phone was creepy. Psychiatric help dould do him good indeed.

Hope Japan can learn something from this.

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it's funny, we are all nervous in this situation.......

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There are always people who sympathise with killers like this, just have a look at Youtube for fan videos of Cho or the Colombine killers.

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One of the 'wide' shows this morning featured hundreds of faxes they'd received from viewers sympathising with Kato, some of them expressing the view that 'It could be me next'. Hopefully they're all just crying wolf, or joking (weird sense of humour), but it was a bit disturbing to watch. The announcer telephoned the writer of one of the more radical faxes, and after a short discussion made him to promise not to do anything silly. I thought it would have been more appropriate to make him promise to get psychiatric help.

The same programme also had faxes from a number of kyoiku mamas who claimed they'd 'seen the light' and would no longer push their kids past their abilities. So perhaps some good may come out of the Akihabara massacre.

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I agree with kinniku, she might have been caught before it happened and cried wolf.

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Hopefully, she will have a psychiatric evaluation and receive the helps she needs instead of being prosecuted.

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joking my ass, send her to prison I say

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The media is referring to this as a prank. I reserve judgement. It is also possible for the girl to claim 'joke' once she was arrested. I am not sure anyone can say for certain that at the time she wrote it she was joking. After all, it would not be the first time. Often we hear from aquaintances of killers that they had been told of such feeling but that they never thought they would actually go through with it.

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If this trend continues, Japanese government will ban the Internet!

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Is this the way how school teachers and their parents groom their offsprings here in Japan... Show some respect... How crazy she show sympathy to Kato(I am bothered), better visit a psychologist...

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“I was just joking. I didn’t imagine it would turn into such a big deal.”

I hope they send a strong message to this girl that making such threats is definitely "a big deal." Although a minor, they should get out Japan's Criminal Statutes and pile on every charge they can (and some they cannot), to bury this clown and force her parents into bankruptcy, either through legal fees and/or fines. Also, I would like to see this girl's picture, name and address publicized all over the Internet and around where she lives so those around her can congratulate her on that terrific sense of humor she has.

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Copycat. Here we go. Wait for the next one to take it further. The media have been preparing the groundwork with their non-stop adolation of the creep.

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I bet she stabs like a girl.

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to:17 year old idiot. there were people who died that day.show some respect. I hope the families of the victims get a hold of you and give you the smacking you deserve.

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“I was just joking. I didn’t imagine it would turn into such a big deal.”

she has no sympathy for victims and I hope they make an example of her.

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Little brat. I hope they give her parents a big fine.

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they'll be monitored for a few weeks maybe even months then there will be cost cutting and forgotten about until the next time. This type of monitoring is obviously the mark one eyeball

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Well at least we know now that these things are being monitored, some good came out of it though a cry wolf scenario is also a distinct possibility.

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