Overview
- Police identified the suspect as Naoya Yamaguchi, 30, of Itoshima, and arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder.
- A 27-year-old woman and a 44-year-old HKT48 staff member were hospitalized with non-life-threatening stab wounds.
- Authorities say the staffer was stabbed in a VIP parking area after telling a man to leave, and the woman, who said she did not know her attacker, was stabbed inside the nearby commercial facility.
- Police say Yamaguchi called from a pay phone in Kasuga around 2 a.m. to report seeing the attacker before admitting he was responsible; officers later found him carrying two knives.
- The incidents occurred around the Mizuho PayPay Dome and adjacent BOSS E・ZO FUKUOKA, prompting HKT48 to cancel an online meet-and-greet as members evacuated safely from offices by the theater.