Japan police search knife attack suspect Satoshi Uematsu's home

Japanese police on Wednesday searched the home of the man who is suspected of the country's worst mass stabbing in decades, which took place at the Tsukui Yamayuri-en facility for the mentally disabled. The police took in cardboard boxes to collect evidence and part of the property was sealed with yellow police tape.

In the early hours of Tuesday, 26 July, Satoshi Uematsu, who was a former employee of the care facility in Sagamihara, west of Tokyo, killed 19 people and injured dozens of others. Around two hours after the attack, he turned himself over to the police.

Earlier on Wednesday (27 July), he was shifted from a local police station to the prosecutor's office in Yokohoma.

Broadcaster NHK quoted the police as saying he attacked people who were unable to communicate their feelings.

In February, he sent a letter to politicians detailing plans to attack two facilities and saying all disabled people should be put to death. He was later kept in a hospital for about two weeks before being released.

Kanagawa prefecture welfare department official Shogo Nakayama said officials from the facility questioned him about the letter following which he quit his job.

Shock and anger

Most of the victims of the Sagamihara facility were aged between 19 and 70 and were residents of the care home. The victims were stabbed around their necks, with wounds as deep as 10cm.

The parents of one of the seriously injured residents of the facility told broadcaster NTV that their son is unconscious and on artificial respiration.

"I feel anger that he was a former worker," the mother said about the attacker. The faces of the parents were not shown and their identities not revealed.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said after the incident, "The lives of many innocent people were taken away and I am greatly shocked. We will make every effort to discover the facts and prevent a reoccurrence."