Fukuoka slasher strikes again

Police said Friday that a man was stabbed on a street in Hakata Ward in Fukuoka, the third such random attack in the area in a week.

According to police, the victim, a 20-year-old student, was slashed in the street at around 8:30 p.m. Thursday, while walking home. Police say the victim was not injured in the attack, but that a 5-cm-long gash was cut into his clothing.

TV Asahi reported Friday that the victim's description of his attacker, a man around 175 cm tall, wearing a black knit hat, closely matched the two previous victims' descriptions.

Furthermore, the attack took place just 300 meters from the location of the second reported attack on Jan 28. In that incident, a 45-year-old nurse was approached from behind by a man who forced her head down and slashed her head and arm with a knife. Two days earlier, on Jan 26, a 54-year-old man in a public park in the same area was stabbed in the arm and chest by a knife-wielding man.

© Japan Today