Police search Kyoto arson suspect’s apartment in Saitama

July 26, 2019

Saitama--Police on Friday searched the apartment in Saitama, eastern Japan, of the 41-year-old suspect of last week's arson attack that killed 34 people at a Kyoto Animation Co. studio.

The search lasted about three hours. Kyoto prefectural police members came out from the apartment with boxes believed to contain confiscated materials, including what appeared damaged tube-shaped audio equipment, and loaded them into police vehicles.

The police will analyze the confiscated materials to understand how the July 18 attack happened and what might have driven the suspect, Shinji Aoba.

A man living next to Aoba's unit told reporters that he had trouble with the suspect late at night on July 14.

Aoba banged on the wall between the two apartments, and the neighbor came out. Aoba grabbed him by the shirt and shouted, "I'll kill you. I have nothing to lose," according to the neighbor.

The suspect had many problems with neighbors about noise, such as "deep bass sounds that blared for more than an hour late at night," the neighbor also said.

Aoba suffered severe burns during the incident and is receiving treatment at an intensive care unit at a hospital in Osaka Prefecture.

Investigative sources said footage of security cameras in Kyoto Prefecture showed that the suspect arrived in the western Japan prefecture on July 15, three days before the attack in its namesake capital.

Aoba spent about two hours at an Internet cafe in front of the Japan Railways Group's Kyoto Station on July 16 and bought a pushcart, fuel containers and other items at a hardware store in the neighboring city of Uji on July 17, the sources said.

The suspect apparently prepared the attack carefully. He walked nearly 10 kilometers that day pushing the cart, passing by Kyoto Animation's head office and another studio in Uji, the sources added.

According to the sources, a total of six naked knives believed to be Aoba's belongings were found near the attacked studio. The suspect apparently planned to use them to attack people in the building, the sources added.

In the city of Kyoto, firefighters gave an account of the fire to reporters Friday, saying that black smoke and blaze kept them from entering the building.

The firefighters, who were among the first group that arrived at the scene, said they did not see how many people were left in the building and immediately requested that more firefighters be sent. Jiji Press