A 12-year-old boy who admitted to stabbing a woman in the back in a random attack here said he did so because he wanted "to hurt someone," police said.
The boy has been placed in temporary custody by child welfare authorities and cannot be named because he is a minor.
The victim, who is in her 20s, was stabbed on her way home from work around 5:55 p.m. on Nov. 25 in a residential area of the city's Higashi Ward. She suffered a deep knife wound that will take one to two months to heal, police said.
The boy said he saw the young woman walking in front of him and stabbed her with a knife he had shoplifted.
Hokkaido prefectural police referred the case to a child counseling center in the city on Nov. 26 under provisions of the Child Welfare Law on grounds the boy is clearly in need of professional care.
Police said the first-year junior high school student had admitted to attempted murder.
Police found the boy Nov. 26 at a shopping center near the site of the attack and began questioning him. At first the boy denied any involvement, but later confessed to stabbing the woman.
“The woman was walking on the street ahead of me and I stabbed her in the back" and "I was overcome with a sense of wanting to hurt someone," the boy was quoted by police as saying.
The boy also spoke about his dark fantasies of scenes of dead people or killing people.
Police said the boy carried the knife in his backpack. They found the empty package for the knife in his home, along with another one still wrapped.
The boy told police he stole the knife from a large shopping complex a month or two ago as well as the other blade that investigators found in his home.
The incident occurred in a residential area on the western side of Okadama Airport in Sapporo close to Sakaemachi Station, a subway stop on the Toho Line.
After being stabbed, the woman asked for help and a pedestrian contacted the emergency 110 number who saw her falling to the ground.
Although she wore a thick coat, the knife remained stuck in her back, police said.
The child counseling center took the boy into protective custody after being contacted by police.
Because the boy is under the age of 14, he cannot be held criminally responsible for his actions under the Juvenile Law.
In general, police refer young offenders to a child counseling center and the facility decides whether or not the case should be heard by a family court.
A revision to the Juvenile Law in 2007 allows for children aged around 12 or older to be sent to reform schools for juvenile delinquents. Previously, the ceiling was set at 14.
Boy, 12, stabbed woman because he wanted to ‘hurt someone’：The Asahi Shimbun
The boy has been placed in temporary custody by child welfare authorities and cannot be named because he is a minor.
The victim, who is in her 20s, was stabbed on her way home from work around 5:55 p.m. on Nov. 25 in a residential area of the city's Higashi Ward. She suffered a deep knife wound that will take one to two months to heal, police said.
The boy said he saw the young woman walking in front of him and stabbed her with a knife he had shoplifted.
Hokkaido prefectural police referred the case to a child counseling center in the city on Nov. 26 under provisions of the Child Welfare Law on grounds the boy is clearly in need of professional care.
Police said the first-year junior high school student had admitted to attempted murder.
Police found the boy Nov. 26 at a shopping center near the site of the attack and began questioning him. At first the boy denied any involvement, but later confessed to stabbing the woman.
“The woman was walking on the street ahead of me and I stabbed her in the back" and "I was overcome with a sense of wanting to hurt someone," the boy was quoted by police as saying.
The boy also spoke about his dark fantasies of scenes of dead people or killing people.
Police said the boy carried the knife in his backpack. They found the empty package for the knife in his home, along with another one still wrapped.
The boy told police he stole the knife from a large shopping complex a month or two ago as well as the other blade that investigators found in his home.
The incident occurred in a residential area on the western side of Okadama Airport in Sapporo close to Sakaemachi Station, a subway stop on the Toho Line.
After being stabbed, the woman asked for help and a pedestrian contacted the emergency 110 number who saw her falling to the ground.
Although she wore a thick coat, the knife remained stuck in her back, police said.
The child counseling center took the boy into protective custody after being contacted by police.
Because the boy is under the age of 14, he cannot be held criminally responsible for his actions under the Juvenile Law.
In general, police refer young offenders to a child counseling center and the facility decides whether or not the case should be heard by a family court.
A revision to the Juvenile Law in 2007 allows for children aged around 12 or older to be sent to reform schools for juvenile delinquents. Previously, the ceiling was set at 14.
Boy, 12, stabbed woman because he wanted to ‘hurt someone’：The Asahi Shimbun
