Tokyo Police Arrest South Korean Student in Hammer Attack Incident; Suspect Says She Was ‘Bullied on Daily Basis’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:23 JST, January 11, 2025

Police in Tokyo arrested a second-year female student at Hosei University’s Tama campus on Friday on suspicion of assaulting eight people with a hammer.

The South Korean national, 22, attacked the other students at around 3:40 p.m. on Friday in a classroom where about 150 students were taking an economics class.

According to a senior police official, five male students and three female students were struck in the head or arms with a metal hammer, which was about 30 centimeters long and weighed about 360 grams. The students received minor injuries.

The police said the suspect told them that on the morning of the incident, she took the hammer from another classroom and put it in her jacket pocket.

Authorities believe the attack was premeditated and are investigating further.

According to police, the suspect suddenly walked from her seat in the third row to the front of the classroom about 10 minutes after class started, then walked toward the back of the room. She then struck a male student and a female student who were sitting in the last row with the hammer, along with six other students.

Police said the suspect told investigators that she was bullied on a daily basis and was looked down on and thought the only way to resolve the situation was to hit the students in the class.