Madplanet

Attacker liveblogs Akihabara preparations

Threats on BBSes, usually the notorious 2channel, are nothing new. But Tomohiro Kato, now in custody for killing seven and wounding ten on Sunday, went one better by liveblogging his progress via cellphone. He first writes at 5.21a.m. of his intention to kill people in Akihabara and follows it with ten updates on his journey from Shizuoka, including complaints about delays, road closures and the weather.

I found myself thinking earlier what I’d do were I caught in a situation like yesterday’s attack, and realised that it had shaken me more than these reports usually do. I’m not sure if it’s the scale or the fact that it seemed so premeditated. Usually these incidents seem like the result of someone snapping and heading for the nearest concentration of people they can find with whatever weapons are readily obtainable. The sheer amount of planning in this case is more reminiscent of some of the school shootings in the US, for example.