Japanese police search for suspect after teen fatally stabbed at McDonald's: Media

TOKYO: Japanese police were searching on Sunday (Dec 15) for the attacker who fatally stabbed a junior high school student and wounded another at a McDonald's restaurant, local media reported.

The teens were in line to order around 8.30pm local time on Saturday when the attacker entered the fast-food restaurant and wordlessly stabbed them both, according to national broadcaster NHK.

They were rushed to hospital where the girl later died. The other victim, a boy, survived and he told police he did not know the man who had stabbed them, NHK said.

It was not clear whether the girl knew the man, who remained at large on Sunday.

Dozens of police have deployed to find the attacker, described as a man who appears to be in his 40s, wearing a grey jacket and dark pants, according to Television Nishinippon.

Police declined to comment on the case to AFP.

The attack in the city of Kitakyushu, in Fukuoka prefecture, happened in less than a minute, local media reported, adding that around 10 customers were inside the restaurant at the time.

Violent crime is rare in Japan, which has strict gun control laws. But there are occasional stabbings and even shootings, including the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.

In 2019, two people, including a schoolgirl, were stabbed to death and more than a dozen wounded in the Japanese city of Kawasaki in a rampage by an attacker who targeted children as they waited for a bus.

The 51-year-old attacker slashed at a group of children before fatally stabbing himself