Concert Fan And Staff Stabbed Near Idol Event, Suspect Flees

On December 14, KST, a stabbing incident occurred near multiple idol-related events in Fukuoka, Japan, leaving the city grappled with fear.

The incident occurred around 5 pm at a commercial complex named BOSS E・ZO FUKUOKA, located near the city’s PayPay Dome. The area was bustling with a crowd at the time since there were simultaneous events happening nearby involving popular idol groups like HKT48 and Hey!Say!JUMP. A man armed with a knife suddenly attacked two random people in the crowd and fled the scene before the police arrived.

When the officers rushed to the scene after receiving emergency calls, they found the two victims, a man and a woman, lying on the ground. The man was identified as a staff member working at the HKT48 event, while the woman was a fan who had come to watch Hey!Say!JUMP’s concert at the dome. Both of them were stabbed by a bladed weapon. They were found in a conscious state and are reportedly not in any life-threatening situation. The police immediately transported them to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Following the incident, HKT48’s event was paused midway, with the safety of staff, artists, and the audience in mind. According to the police, the suspect is a man in his 30s, approximately 160cm tall. At the time of the attack, he was seen wearing black clothing, a black hat, black glasses, and a white face mask. He fled the scene on foot. The Fukuoka Prefectural Police launched a manhunt and an investigation against the suspect on charges of attempted murder.

The suspect was finally apprehended on December 15 and identified as Naoya Yamaguchi, a resident of Itoshima in Fukuoka Prefecture. According to the police, he called the police at 2 a.m. Monday from a pay phone in Kasuga, a city near Fukuoka. He initially called to report he had seen the suspected attacker, but later confessed that he was the one who fled from the scene of the incident before hanging up. The police arrested Yamaguchi later Monday and found two knives in his possession, one of which is believed to have been used in the attacks.

The incident has sparked waves of fear and anxiety, particularly among idol fans who were in the area, putting Japan’s public safety under scrutiny.