Police said Friday they have arrested a man for attempting to kill his two sons and himself with gas.
According to police, the 44-year-old newspaper delivery man allegedly attempted to commit suicide in his apartment in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Thursday morning at about 4:30 a.m., using chlorine gas while his sons were sleeping, Fuji TV reported.
Police say that none of the family died in the incident, although all three are said to have been made unwell by the gas. The two sons are aged 13 and 16. The man has been released from custody for hospital treatment.
© Japan Today
15 Comments
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Okinawamike
Open letter to all Mothers and Fathers (NOT JUST JAPANESE):
If you want to end it all, leave the rest of the family members out of your selfish plan.
You made your choice, let them make theirs.
sensei258
Imagine how those boys must feel..."Daddy tried to kill us", very sad
yasukuni
This is a hard county to live in if you haven't made it. If handguns were easily available, I'd say the suicide rate would double.
BigBoy69
What is it about this country that life is just disposable... i'm Japanese and i have had a bad day.. i think i will burn some charcoal in my living room with the doors and windows taped up... dang!
jforce
... And the government wants to legalize casinos in this country. I see suicide numbers on the rise.
nath
I guess he did not study very well in science classes. He forgot the ammonia.
I love ammonia for cleaning. You can only buy super concentrated here in Japan and it is behind the register. I get it from base friends dirt cheap.
I hope there is a guard outside his door.
OMGhontoni
I wonder where the Mother was in this? Divorce? Perhaps he was a widower? Sounds like a terrible, tragic situation, but no excuse for taking the children with you. I am guessing when Dad recovers the boys wont be going back to him, so hope they find somewhere safe and happy for them to finish growing up. How horrible at 13 and 16 to have to live with the knowledge that your own father tried to kill you.
WilliB
Here we go again: "man allegedly attempted to commit suicide..."
No, he did not attempt suicide, he attempted double murder + suicide.
And chlorine gas! That was the first "chemical weapon" used by imperial German troops in WW1. A horrible way to die. Good grief, what a character.
tmarie
Just another day in Japan when are parents either tried to kill or manages to kill their kids. Honestly, when is this country going to come to gripes with this social problem??
Poor kids. Imagine surviving that and knowing dad tried to off you. Horrific.
OMG, sadly, I think this guy will be able to see his kids. Suspended sentence perhaps??
Suginamiguy
Sorry, but a probably macabre comment from me ... but death by chlorine gas would be rather painful wouldn`t it?
Elbuda Mexicano
No idea why this fool would try to kill not only himself, but his 2 teen age sons!! Stupid, stupid evil bastard! I hope his kids are ok and that the J government keeps the kids away from this 44 year old fool!! Wife?? My guess, she long long ago realized this dude was an idiot and skipped town??
kitzrow
So few details so I will go with the fact the father might have lost a job and did not know how to support his family .. or maybe the 13 and 16 year old children were rebellious and their father could not handle it ..... Good ending here, but it should never have happened. We read stories like this ... but we seldom read what happens later on .....
nudgenudge
When attempting a suicide/ murder, one should always begin with the suicide aspect. You definitely don't want to botch the murders first only to get the suuicide part right later. Get the suicide out of the way first, get it right, then move on to the murders.
nath
Just plain sad.
bajhista65
Nice move @ Okinawamike. But bringing the members of the family is like a culture or customary in japan in commiting suicide. Japanese mentality.