Man goes on trial for killing police officer, security guard in Toyama

A 24-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing a 46-year-old police officer in a koban (police box) and shooting to death a 68-year-old school security guard with the officer’s gun in 2018 went on trial in Toyama City on Thursday,

In the opening session of his trial at the Toyama District Court, Keita Shimazu, a former Ground Self-Defense Forces member who quit in 2017, remained silent while the indictment was read, Sankei Shimbun reported. He was in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by a police officer while resisting arrest.

According to the indictment, Shimazu fatally stabbed police officer Kenichi Inaizumi on June 26, 2018, in the police box. Inaizumi was stabbed more than 12 times in the stomach and chest. Shimazu took Inaizumi’s handgun and walked to a nearby elementary school where he shot and killed Shinichi Nakamura, a security guard. He had three knives on him at the time besides the one he used to stab Inaizumi. That knife was left in the koban.

Shimazu's lawyer said that he had a growing hatred of police ever since they visited his home to investigate complaints he had been abusive toward his parents.

Prior to stabbing Inaizumi, Shimazu fought with the manager of a restaurant where he worked part time. Shimazu contacted his parents on an online messaging app and said he had hit his boss and planned to quit his job. A search of his home revealed more than a dozen toy guns and books on how to commit murder.