Fire in Kyoto Animation: The suspect imprisoned

The police japanese announced on Wednesday that he had stopped the alleged perpetrator of the arson of an animation studio in Kyoto last year, which left 36 dead and thirty wounded including the suspect himself, long hospitalized.

“We arrested Shinji Aoba, 42, suspected of killing 36 people by setting fire to” Kyoto Animation studio 1 (nicknamed Kyoani) on July 18, 2019, a police spokesperson told AFP .

He is also suspected of attempted murder of 34 other people who were injured in the fire, and of violating Japanese gun laws, having been seen with knives on the street, the spokesman added.

Several weeks in a coma

Shinji Aoba was arrested just after the fire. But suffering from severe burns himself, he had to be hospitalized straight away and spent several weeks in a coma, which prevented the police from formally arresting him immediately. He is still recovering from his injuries, but police have set up medical facilities at a police station to interrogate him under better conditions, according to the public broadcaster NHK.

According to several witnesses, he broke into the studio building by spreading gasoline and then igniting it by shouting “You are going to die”. His mobile remains unclear. He had no known connection to Kyoto Animation but allegedly accused the studio of stealing a script idea from him. Suffering from a mental illness, he had already received a sentence of more than three years in prison for having robbed a mini-market in 2012, according to media reports.

The Kyoani tragedy had a huge impact in Japan and abroad. Kyoani had many young employees, including women. These young professionals carried “the Japanese animation industry on their shoulders (…). Japanese gems have been lost, “said company president Hideaki Hatta after the tragedy. Founded in 1981, this studio, renowned for its quality, produced cartoons often inspired by manga, including “Munto”, “Lucky Star”, “La Mélancolie de Haruhi Suzumiya” and “K-ON!” “

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