Police in Japan say they have arrested a suspect in the fatal stabbing of Airi Sato
Police in Japan say they have arrested a suspect in the fatal stabbing of Airi Satoopen image in gallery
Police in Japan say they have arrested a suspect in the fatal stabbing of Airi Sato (Kyodo News)
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A 22-year-old YouTuber has died after being stabbed while livestreaming on a downtown Toykyo street.
Airi Sato was rushed to a hospital with critical injuries after the attacker stabbed her repeatedly in her upper body, while she was streaming to thousands of followers on Tuesday, police said. She was later pronounced dead.
Police said they had arrested a suspect in the stabbing on Friday.
Tokyo metropolitan police said they had arrested Kenji Takano, 42, on the spot on suspicion of attempted murder. He has since been sent to the prosecutors but has not been charged yet.
Witnesses and livestream viewers said that they heard Sato screaming for help, and the stream suddenly went black.
The suspect told police that he got to know Sato through her livestreaming and had seen her in person a number of times, according to media reports, including the Asahi newspaper.
Investigators at the sceneopen image in gallery
Investigators at the scene (Kyodo News)
Takano traveled from the Oyama city, about 160 miles north of Tokyo, to carry out the attack after Sato announced the livestream and tracked down her location by watching the footage, media reports said, quoting police.
He told police he did not intend to kill her.
Violent crimes are still rare in Japan, where gun control is extremely strict, but there have been a number of high profile knife attacks and others using handmade guns in recent years amid a bleak wage and employment outlook.