Teruyuki Takabayashi, 44, of Fussa city, seen here in a photograph from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police website, was apprehended in connection with an alleged attack on a teenager in Fussa. (Tokyo Metropolitan Police)
TOKYO — Japanese police on Friday evening arrested a man suspected of attacking a teenage boy with something like a hammer in a city outside Yokota Air Base, according to media reports.
Teruyuki Takabayashi, 44, of Fussa city, was apprehended by Tokyo Metropolitan Police in Narashino city, east of Tokyo, after he appeared on a nationwide wanted list, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Takabayashi told police that he did not intend to kill anyone, according to NHK on Friday.
Police suspect Takabayashi struck a 17-year-old boy’s face multiple times with a hammer-like object between 7:15 a.m. and 7:25 a.m. Wednesday outside a restaurant in Fussa, a metropolitan police spokeswoman said by phone earlier Friday.
Fussa, one of several cities surrounding Yokota, an airlift hub and headquarters of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo, is where the base’s main gate is located.
Another high school student was also attacked and sustained a minor injury, NHK reported Thursday.
Seven people, including the two students, were gathered near the restaurant when Takabayashi attacked them, NHK reported. When police arrived, he threatened them with a knife and sprayed liquid at them with an agricultural sprayer, injuring three officers, according to the report.
Takabayashi then barricaded himself inside his home near the restaurant for about 4½ hours before police entered and found him gone, according to NHK.
The police wanted list on its website described Takabayashi as 5 feet, 7 inches tall with short, cropped hair and wearing a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants.
Some government spokespeople in Japan may speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
