Shinji Aoba, the suspect of Kyoto Animation studio's arson attack, is stretched to the Fushimi Police Station after being arrested in Kyoto, Japan, May 27, 2020. (Kyodo News via Xinhua)
Shinji Aoba, the 42-year-old suspect in a deadly arson attack last July on a Kyoto Animation Co. studio in western Japan, was arrested on suspicion of murder and other charges.
TOKYO, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The suspect in a deadly arson attack last July on a Kyoto Animation Co. studio in western Japan was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder and other charges, local police said.
The arrest of Shinji Aoba, 42, was made following the alleged arsonist being judged to have recovered enough from the serious burns he sustained during the attack, to face charges against him, police added.
Aoba had undergone multiple skin grafts at a specialist facility to help him recover from the life-threatening burns he sustained during the alleged attack, with police holding back on arresting and fully interrogating him until medical staff deemed the suspect fit to handle the process.
Although still largely confined to a bed due to the severity of his injuries, police arrested Aoba Wednesday at a hospital in Kyoto Prefecture and relocated him to a police station for questioning around 10 months after he is suspected of carrying out the fatal attack.
Local police said Wednesday the suspect had admitted to carrying out the arson attack, with Aoba quoted as saying by way of admission, "There is no mistake."
Shinji Aoba, the suspect of Kyoto Animation studio's arson attack, is seen on a stretcher as he is carried to the Fushimi Police Station after being arrested in Kyoto, Japan, May 27, 2020. (Kyodo News via Xinhua)
KyoAni, as is known affectionately not just in Japan but worldwide, saw its studio in Osaka go up in flames as the result of the suspected arson attack, which claimed the lives of 36 talented individuals, injured 33 others and left a deep scar on the animation industry that will take years to heal.
According to local police reports, on July 18, 2019 at around 10:30 a.m., a man in his 40s believed to be Aoba from Saitama Prefecture near Tokyo entered the studio building with two 20-liter cans of gasoline that he had bought from a nearby gas station.
He is then alleged to have shouted "Die!" while dousing the building and possibly its occupants in the vicinity in the flammable liquid, before igniting it.
Neighbors at the time said they heard numerous loud explosions and saw black smoke billowing from the three-story building.
At the time of the alleged attack, there were believed to have been around 70 people inside the building, some of whom were animators, others who were studying to become artists in the industry, among other professionals.
Firefighters and police said that most of the 36 people killed in the blaze were found on a stairway that led to the building's roof.
They said that around 19 victims were found collapsed on the stairs connecting the third floor to the rooftop.
The door to the flat rooftop, the only lifeline and escape route for the victims, was locked when the firefighters arrived, they said.
On the second floor, around 11 others were found dead, and more lives were lost on the first floor and on the stairs between the second and third floors, the firefighters said.
File Photo: Firefighters extinguish a fire at a Kyoto Animation Co. studio in Kyoto, Japan, July 18, 2019. (Kyodo News via Xinhua)
Firefighters on the scene at the time recounted heinous images of bodies being piled up on stairwells as the victims presumably tried to flee from the blaze to the roof top, only to be overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning.
More than 30 people were also injured in the inferno, which firefighters finally extinguished at 6:20 a.m. the following day.
The fire, which saw 30 fire engines deployed, was one of the worst seen in decades in Japan, fire officials said.
The apparent motive behind the alleged arson attack on the studio, at which the average age of the employees was just 33-years-old, may have been down to a personal grudge, investigative sources have said.
The suspected arsonist told investigators he torched the studio as he believed they had plagiarized his ideas.
He reportedly said after he was apprehend not far from the burning building shortly after the fire was started that the studio "stole a novel."
Photo taken on May 27, 2020 shows the site where a Kyoto Animation Co. studio which was subjected to an arson attack used to stand. (Kyodo News via Xinhua)
The suspect is believed to have traveled to Kyoto by train to carry out the attack and was spotted in the vicinity of the studio in the days before by eyewitnesses, according to local media accounts at the time.
A number of knives, knife-like objects and a hammer were also found at the scene.
In 2012, the suspect was formerly indicted for a convenience store robbery and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.
Aoba, according to sources with knowledge of the matter, has also been treated for mental health issues and had been living on welfare.
The popular studio in Kyoto is known at home and abroad for producing numerous famous titles including the TV animation series "K-On!" and "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya". ■
