Knife-Wielding Man Shot Dead by Police in Toyama

Toyama, March 22 (Jiji Press)--A knife-wielding man was shot dead by a police officer in the central Japan prefecture of Toyama in the predawn hours of Monday.

According to the Toyama prefectural police department, the unemployed man, 38, approached the officer on a street in the city of Toyama, the prefecture’s capital, saying, “You want me to stab you?”

The officer shot the man in his chest at around 3:40 a.m. (6:40 p.m. Sunday GMT) after ordering him to drop the knife. He was later confirmed dead in a hospital.

Before the incident, the police received an emergency call from the man’s home shortly past 3:20 a.m. and another call at 3:30 a.m., from a neighbor at the request of the man’s mother. The neighbor reported that a man was on a rampage.

Following the calls, the police officer, along with a colleague, headed to the scene and found the man with a knife.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]