Akihabara victim was dialling 110 when she was attacked

I hate to say it but the few seconds she took her eye off Kato to call 110 might have cost Muto her life.

I am terribly sorry about the tragic deaths of Mai Muto and the other 6 people. Unfortunately, it will be many years until justice is served, and closure found for the victims` families, with the execution of the mass murderer, Tomohiro Kato.

It would be "fight or flight" for me. Even thinking of calling for help wouldn't come until much later.

In reality there is NO closure for the victims and families of them. That is a fallacy.

Killing him won't bring the people back nor will it bring back the years of suffering of going through the trials, etc.

The pain will always be there if he lives or not.

Is this worth reporting?

I don't remember ONE single war or action movie where the soldiers don't take cover before calling for support. This death is so stupid. Not that the others were making any sense, but here sh1t was already hitting the fan and she stood like a sitting duck.

Pathat: Killing is killing. State murder is no better than what Kato did to these poor people. Maybe worst because it institutionalizes violence as a solutionto problems. Which I believe helps entrench violence in our societies.

Zen Builder is right. There is never closure for this kind of thing. I knew victims families of the Utah Hi-Fi killing. After the executions nothing changed. The pain remains.

If we want to serve the memories of these people and assure justice, the answer rests in preventing this sort of thing in the future. And that means taking real steps to address the causes of increasing violence in Japan. Then by avoiding similar tragedy we provide some kind of real consolation to the families. And not just mindless eye for an eye revenge.

We need to move beyond killing as an answer to any problem.

Why would she 'take cover' if she was calling to report that people had been hit by a truck?

Our school doesn't allow students to have cell phones and they always give reasons like this as to why they should be allowed to have them. I always tell them that a cell phone will never help them in these violent situations. Trapped somewhere, yes, but never a sudden attack...

what are these stupid comment? when you see an accident you call 911. you do not expect, that a madaman jumps out and starts stabbing you.

the only mistake she made was to forget that she was in japan. that it may be a loony

Pathat: Killing is killing. State murder is no better than what Kato did to these poor people. It is certainly no worse. Why should this SOB be allowed to drag out his life for another 20 or 30 years living on government largesse, when he denied his victims the opportunity to live their lives? As I stated in an earlier post, I am against the death penalty in principle, however, what the guy did down in Akihabara was just too much even for me...

Yet, 10 years on death-row while the appeals, etc are going through is the SAME cost as 40+yrs in general population.

Plus, on Death-row he is isolated to PROTECT him from other inmates. Sounds like a fairly sweet deal. Cell to himself, showers alone, protected and better cared for than the guys in general population.

lesson: run first, dial later.

If I had been there, I don't think I would have had the presence of mind to call 110 while all the carnage was going on. I imagine I would run for my life in the opposite direction from Kato, and then when I was safe, I might have called 110.

Muto probably didn't even realize what was going on or that she was even close to the perp.

＞Coligny at 12:55 PM JST - 19th June

＞I don't remember ONE single war or action movie where the soldiers don't take cover before calling for support.

everything you see in a movie is written, planned, rehearsed, and acted out. Give the unfortunate woman some credit. We don't even know if she dialed before or after she was attacked. If it was before, that would make her a hero, yes?

where's police brutality when you need it? i think this guy got what he wanted, he's famous and he now has a place in society. instead of getting punched in the face everyday for the rest of his life, experts are taking good care of and studing his personality trying to figure out why he went on a rampage as if that would solve anything.

dennis0bauer - an equally "stupid comment"

the only mistake she made was to forget that she was in japan. that it may be a loony

She was a Japanese girl, and there was a good chance that she had never traveled outside of the place. What else could she know?

Why would she need to take cover, she saw an accident and called for help. She and the most people probably didn't even know a madman was there.

Investigators estimate the entire span of events from crash to attack to him being arrested was about 120 seconds with the actual attacks maybe taking place in a span of 60 seconds, before he was confronted by the officer.

Life isn't a "war or action movie", sh*t happens and there isn't a pause or stop button. It's only natural that some people, MOST people, would freeze up when seeing such an atrocity. She probably did the only thing that came to mind and dialed for help. She did what she could to help the others and bless her for trying. Prayers for her family and the families of those lost and injured, and of course for Kato's parents.

If I had been there, I don't think I would have had the presence of mind to call 110 while all the carnage was going on. I imagine I would run for my life in the opposite direction from Kato, and then when I was safe, I might have called 110.

Muto probably didn't even realize what was going on or that she was even close to the perp.

If i was there I would run in his direction to provide him with a beating he could only imagine in his worst nightmare.

Why does some reader always come on these threads boasting about how he would have taken the guy down? In this case, we are treated to a fantasy by niseigaijin. Unless you are trained in martial arts and have been in life-threatening situations, I can guarantee you, niseigaijin, that you would not have run in Kato's direction to "provide him with a beating." Most likely, you would have run for your life along with everyone else, froze in fear or been stabbed if you got anywhere near him.

No one knows how they'll react in a situation like this, but it sure isn't like the movies.

Tkoind2, Your wrong the death penalty is a deterrent.. Haven't you noticed around the world that more and more crime is happening like this and that the weakening of the death penalty has emboldened these people. If I was a young man with no since of a future why not murder a few people and get stuck in jail for life FREE FOOD FREE BED FREE LOVEN... if your looking at begging on the streets how bad could jail be. If we want a safe world the death penalty is there... Its the way nature intended. The strong will survive we have to be strong and rid our selves of the these people and their thoughts. HANGM HIGH!!!

Don't forget there were two parts to this. Firstly the truck hit people, then the guy went on a stabbing spree. Most likely sequence of events.

1) Kato runs his truck into people. 2) Muto thinks "oh my god, an accident! I better ring 110!" 3) Kato gets out of the truck, pulls a knife and starts stabbing.

Muto was probably unaware of part 3 until it happened. I doubt very much she'd be just standing around trying to use her keitai while some guy was running around stabbing people. Personally, I'd be shocked at the accident and it would probably take me a few moments to register that there was more going on, a few moments that could prove fatal.

It really is sad to think some guy drowning in self pity can snuff out 7 lives so quickly. Enjoy your days while you've got them.

Haven't you noticed around the world that more and more crime is happening like this and that the weakening of the death penalty has emboldened these people.

The first part, yes. The second part, no. There have however been several would-be suiciders unable to do themselves in who have gone on a killing spree in the hopes of getting the death penalty - a kind of attempted suicide by courtroom.

The killer rammed his truck into the victims at about 12:33 p.m. and was apprehended at 12:35 170 meters away from the scene.

Most people, including the victim here probably just thought it was an accident, stopped to called 110 (which is the fire department/rescue ambulance number in Japan, she wasn't calling 119 which is the police).

I stand corrected, 110 is police 119 is fire, though she still probably was reporting it as an accident, rather then "there's a crazy man with a knife".

niseigaijin:

" If i was there I would run in his direction to provide him with a beating he could only imagine in his worst nightmare. "

Dear keyboard hero,

At 85 kilos and taking karate classes I would like to think that I am not a pushover myself. But frankly, I have no idea what I would do if a madman waving a dagger came running towards me. Maybe I would turn into Bruce Lee, but more likely I would run. But the internet is so liberating, isn´t it? Ensconced behind our computer screen, we can all be superhuman.

It is very obvious that calling 110 cost her her life and that people who ignore those in trouble live longer.

badge123:

she wasn't calling 119 which is the police

Strange...when I call the cops, I always dial 110...119 gets me the fire service!

I already corrected myself, JT doesn't seem to have a EDIT button.

Notwithstanding, reading from a real Japan news source, Kato attacked everyone in a span of 30 SECONDS, before he was confronted by the koban officer. She sees an accident, she picks up her phone to report an accident, crazy guy immediately jumps out and stabs 12 people in 30 seconds, I doubt she even had a chance to turn and run away if she wanted to, some of the other victims were hit from behind, they probably didn't know what got them either.

For those thinking my comparison to movie is stupid. Let me phrase it differently:

You don't report on a situation before assessing it. Here the situation was clearly still developing and it seems that there was an uniformed police officer nearby. In this case, it's not even about training or else, it's just that you back up, try to understand what's going on and then try to see if / what you can do.

Everyone seems to be assuming that she dialed before the attacker reached her. Maybe he stabbed her first. She may have had several seconds of life in her to try and phone or reach someone even after she was stabbed. In any case, it's really impossible to say what would have happened as none of us were there. Hindsight is always 20/20. If he stabbed that many people that quickly, he was probably running from person to person and I doubt she would have even seen him coming and been able to avoid his attack even if she hadn't been dialing.

For those of you who think that they would have stepped up and played hero or had the presence of mind to escape...do you really think you would have even known what was going on? Usually it takes some time to figure out what's happening. Remember, it was a crowded place! People wouldn't have been able to see what was going on until the last second. By that time, it may have been too late to avoid him.

A responsible citizen responds to emergencies by dialing 110. Unfortunately it's impossible to train people to deal with maniacs. When a crazed killer with a dagger runs amok, it's every man (and woman) for him/herself.

Nisegaijin

If i was there I would run in his direction to provide him with a beating he could only imagine in his worst nightmare.

There are those who would run, those who would dial 110, those who don't know what they would do, and those who know exactly what they would do. I wish there were more like you and the latter. I personally would do exactly what Muto chan did, after subduing the maniac with extreme injurious prejudice.

It is very obvious that calling 110 cost her her life and that people who ignore those in trouble live longer

ahhh yes, I remember your previous charming post on this topic "there are no innocent victims,everybody dies for a reason, I avoid trouble by thinking positive thoughts and avoiding those in trouble" or something equally inhumane. altruism aint so bad, especially next time you are in trouble. oh hang on, of course, you avoid trouble and will do so your whole life. good for you.

nycsamurai:

" I personally would do exactly what Muto chan did, after subduing the maniac with extreme injurious prejudice. "

Ah, another keyboard hero. Topics like this seem to attract them invariably.

wanderlust; She watched The news so the percentage of loony crimes is more than in foreign crimes. Everyday some crazy crimes happens here in Japan.

That is the point i tried to make.

The goverment will probably release new guidelines. If an accident occurs, go to a save distance call 110 while checking your surroundings then check the victims if it is safe to do.