FILE - Shoes of victims are left on a street as rescuers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department work in Tokyo's Akihabara district after a man rammed a truck into a crowd of shoppers, jumped out and went on a stabbing spree in Tokyo's top electronics district on June 8, 2008. Japan on Tuesday, July 26, 2022 executed a man convicted of killing seven in the 2008 rampage in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district, the justice minister announced.
Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa told reporters that Tomohiro Kato was hanged at the Tokyo detention center earlier Tuesday. Furukawa said Kato had thoroughly prepared to commit the mass killings — “an atrocious act that led to extremely serious consequences and had a major impact on society.” Kato, 39, was sentenced to death in 2011 by the Tokyo District Court, and the Supreme Court rejected his appeal in 2015.