Updated at 5:20 a.m., July 29, 2019.
KYOTO, JAPAN — A man suspected of torching an animation studio in Japan, killing 33 people in the country’s worst mass killing in two decades, planned the attack because he believed his novel had been plagiarized, media said Friday.
The man, identified as Shinji Aoba, shouted “Die!” before dousing the entrance to Kyoto Animation’s studio building with what appeared to be petrol and setting it ablaze around 10:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) Thursday, media said.
The 41-year-old told police, “I did it,” when he was detained, adding he had started the fire because he believed the studio had stolen his novel, Kyodo news said, citing investigative sources.
Kyoto police declined to comment. Broadcaster Nippon TV said he was under an anesthesia after burning himself and police were unable to question him.
The man “seemed to be discontented, he seemed to get angry, shouting something about how he had been plagiarized,” a woman who saw the suspect being detained told reporters.
The explosive blaze left 10 more people in critical condition, authorities said late Thursday, in Japan’s worst mass killing since a suspected arson attack in Tokyo killed 44 people in 2001.
A day later, none of the victims’ identities had been disclosed.
'Very, very sad'
“I imagine many of the people who died were in their twenties,” said 71-year-old Kozo Tsujii, fighting back tears after laying flowers near the studio in the rain Friday morning. He said he drives by the studio on his daily commute.
“I’m just very, very sad that these people who are so much younger than me passed away so prematurely,” he said.
Police searched through the smoldering shell of the building for clues Friday.
A man resembling the suspect went to a petrol station Thursday with two 20-liter cans, Japanese media said. Two cans, a rucksack and a trolley were found near the site, and television footage showed what appeared to be five long knives laid out by police as possible evidence on the ground outside the three-story building.
The suspect had no connection with Kyoto Animation and his driver’s license listed an address in Saitama, a northern suburb of Tokyo, public broadcaster NHK said. Little else was known about the man, who is under police supervision with serious burns to the face and legs, media reports said.
NHK showed footage of what it said appeared to be the suspect lying on his back on the ground as he spoke to a police officer, shoeless and with what appeared to be burns on his right leg below the knee.
Kyoto Animation, in a quiet suburb about 20 minutes by train from the center of Japan’s ancient capital, produces popular “anime” series such as the “Sound! Euphonium.”
Its “Free! Road to the World - The Dream” movie is due for release this month.
The studio sits between two train lines close to a stream amid houses and small apartment blocks, a few stores and a taxi company parking lot. The area was cordoned off Friday morning. A few of the original 30 or so fire trucks remained in the streets but with their lights off. Some firefighters appeared to still be dousing the smoldering building.
Jun Shin, a 30-year-old Chinese man living in nearby Osaka, came to the site Thursday night to lay flowers near the burned-out office and say a prayer.
“I am an anime fan,” Jun, an information-technology worker, told Reuters. “I have watched animation since I was a student, and this was a terrible event, I just want to come and mourn. It left me speechless.”
