Guam Stabbings: “I Wanted To Harm As Many People As I Could”

(AP Photo/The Pacific Daily, Rick Cruz)

The Pacific island of Guam is a popular Japanese tourist destination that also has a strong resident Japanese community. Therefore, the recent Guam stabbings in which two Japanese nationals died and 11 were injured, have shocked Japan.

While the incident may well damage Japanese tourism to the island, netizens are instead outraged at the nature of the killings, focusing in particular on the heart-rending story of the 8 month baby who is now left without a mother.

From Yahoo! Japan:

Guam Stabbings: “I Wanted To Harm As Many People As I Could”, States Suspect; 8 Month Old Baby Also Injured

During the police investigation of the indiscriminate attacks that left Japanese nationals fatally wounded in a bustling area in the self-governing U.S. territory of Guam, it was revealed that the arrested suspect, Chad Ryan Desoto (21), an American resident in Guam, had state to police: ‘I wanted to harm as many people as I could just by using a car and a knife’. The Guam local newspaper, Pacific Daily News (digital edition) reported on February 13 that this was in the prosecutor’s documents submitted to the court.

According to the documents, after Dent had injured 6 people with his car, he stabbed a further 8 with his knife, killing two. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs released the names of the dead victims as Uehara Kazuko (81) and Sugiyama Rie (28). 11 Japanese nationals were also injured and taken to hospital. 3 of them were discharged. According to the prosecutor’s documents, Sugiyama’s 8-month old son was also stabbed and injured.

Comments from Yahoo! Japan:

フラワーバスケット414（flo…）さん:

I feel so sorry for the new father and the baby who lost its mother only 8 months after being born.

kei**0wi*ard（kei…）さん:

The way he thinks is so low. Lock him up and throw away the key.

どんちゃん（don…）さん:

Despite saying anyone would do, he targeted women, children, and the vulnerable. It’s unforgivable to even target an 8 month-old baby.

syu**usa*a（syu…）さん:

His motivation was completely absurd…it’s fucked up that just because some Japanese tourists happen to be there that they should be the victims.

-（ryu…）さん:

Do away with him.

カーテンレール（bla…）さん:

Criminals who kill indiscriminately are in fact not indiscriminate at all. At least I’ve never heard of one raiding a combat sports dojo or a yakuza office. Clearly, this is the lowest type of crime, where they target those who are weaker than themselves.

och*ba*ake*to_f*ji（och…）さん:

Motherfucker. A baby…a mother…I started to cry just by reading this sentence.

18:00すず（bab…）さん:

When you think of how the mother who had to leave her child must have felt….such sorrow.

龍馬（tat…）さん:

This child who has lost its mother when it was only 8 months old won’t even have any memories of her.

CRZ（sam…）さん:

It’s frightening because you just don’t know where people like this are lurking. I pray for the repose of the souls of those who died.

oji*a*nh*tukare*a（oji…）さん:

If you had an 8 month old child in your arms, you could hardly run away. A despicable crime, unforgiveable.

アッピー（a0p…）さん

I’m frightened of this kind of indiscriminate killing.

tamagon（gon…）さん:

Such a wanton act. To go for an 8 month old baby…I feel so sorry for this child, who has lost its mother. As for the criminal, so unscrupulous in his brute deed. May he die in the same way.

ufu*u*ed*a（ufu…）さん:

This reminded me of the Akihabara incident

Nippon_danzi_international（nip…）さん:

Definitely a random street slasher. Had he been targeting people because they were Japanese, then he probably would have had to delve into things more deeply, but he didn’t. He just randomly killed people on the street. I am so sorry for those who became his victims.

かんちゃん4719（vwz…）さん:

There are mental people all over the place

umi*ais*k*08（umi…）さん:

This is the most selfish crime you can commit. He should get the death penalty, no questions asked.

MINIDWL（min…）さん:

Unspeakable bastard.