crime

Man gets life in prison for killing police officer, security guard in Toyama

14 Comments

A 24-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing a 46-year-old police officer in a koban (police box) and shooting to death a 68-year-old school security guard with the officer’s gun in Toyama City in 2018 was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Keita Shimazu, Fuji TV reported. The Toyama District Court handed down its ruling against Shimazu, a former Ground Self-Defense Forces member who quit in 2017.

Shimazu, who was in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by a police officer while resisting arrest, remained silent during the two-month-long trial, neither answering when asked to state his name nor entering a plea.

Explaining why he did not sentence Shimazu to death, Presiding Judge Taihei Omura said the defendant may have been mentally incompetent at the time of the crime. After his arrest, he was diagnosed as suffering from autism spectrum disorder but a psychiatric evaluation found him mentally fit to stand trial.

According to the ruling, Shimazu fatally stabbed police officer Kenichi Inaizumi on June 26, 2018, in the police box. Inaizumi was stabbed more than 12 times in the stomach and chest. Shimazu took Inaizumi’s handgun and walked to a nearby elementary school where he shot and killed Shinichi Nakamura, a security guard.

Shimazu was then shot by police who had arrived on the scene. He had three knives on him at the time besides the one he used to stab Inaizumi. That knife was left in the koban.

Shimazu's lawyer said that he had a growing hatred of police ever since they visited his home to investigate complaints he had been abusive toward his parents.

Prior to stabbing Inaizumi, Shimazu fought with the manager of a restaurant where he worked part time. Shimazu contacted his parents on an online messaging app and said he had hit his boss and planned to quit his job. A search of his home revealed more than a dozen toy guns and books on how to commit murder.

© Japan Today

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14 Comments
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Weak decision. The scum should have been hung. I hope the Prosecution appeals.

Rest in Peace to the two poor innocent men.

5 ( +13 / -8 )

This is a sick person. He needs help that being in jail will not give him

-4 ( +8 / -12 )

This is one messed up guy. its best that the goverment keep him locked up. mainly for his protection and the publics protection.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

I feel sorry for the poor souls that died in the hand of that man.

In my opinion the decision is just right and I add that I’m proud to come from a place like the European Union where such a barbaric act like the death penalty was abolished.

But not only in the old continent but in the whole western and civilized world such savage thing has been abolished besides some states within the US and Japan.

-6 ( +4 / -10 )

William77Today 04:41 pm JST

In my opinion the decision is just right and I add that I’m proud to come from a place like the European Union where such a barbaric act like the death penalty was abolished.

But not only in the old continent but in the whole western and civilized world such savage thing has been abolished besides some states within the US and Japan.

Same here. But you will get some bashing for such bold opinion. And arguments like "why should we feed such scum in prison" or "he took few lifes. How would you feel if he killed someone in your family", etc.

He is a human scum, no doubt.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

This sentence will send the wrong message to so many deranged people like Shimazu, It is a poor and i believe a bad sentence that will become a turning point in may peoples lives.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Yikes. Talked about disturbed. No doubt he will do the same again, whether it be in prison or out in society. There's no way he can can back mental stability, if he was even there at any point. There's really only one solution.......

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Couple of questions ,

1:/ Guy diagnosed as suffering from autism spectrum disorder in the GSDF, why wasnt he previously diagnosed with a disorder?

2:/ 68 year old security guard, what is he meant to to do any way ?

At 68 years old you are not a security guard but a liability pretending to guard children...........

Disabled guy gets life in prison, surely his life will be hell anyway.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

2:/ 68 year old security guard, what is he meant to to do any way ?

At 68 years old you are not a security guard but a liability pretending to guard children.........

His main duty that day was access control at the front gate, he was killed doing his job and no children were injured.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

So then, what is the death penalty for?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

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