Suspect denies posting threat on Osaka's site after
police ID'ed his wireless IP address
Police in Osaka arrested 42-year-old anime technical
director Masaki Kitamura on Sunday on suspicion of writing "I will commit
a massacre" on the city's website. According to the police, the suspect
denied the charges, saying, "I'm completely innocent."
The suspect is accused of going to Osaka's inquiry page
on the Internet and writing, "I will commit a massacre in Otaroad [in
Osaka's Nipponbashi area] next Sunday. I will ram into pedestrian paradise, and
after stabbing indiscriminately with a knife, I will commit suicide" on
July 29 at about 9:45 p.m.
Except the suicide part, the threat is similar to the
killing of seven people that took place in Tokyo's Akihabara district in 2008.
"Pedestrian paradise" is the traditional practice of cordoning
vehicles off a particular street or streets and limiting the area to foot
traffic. Nipponbashi's Otaroad is essentially Osaka's otaku shopping
counterpart to Tokyo's Akihabara.
According to the authorities, they analyzed the IP
address that originated the threat and discovered it was linked to a high-speed
wireless LAN device owned by Kitamura.
Kitamura was an assistant director on both seasons of
Mobile Suit Gundam 00. He was also a director of the 10th installment of Gundam
Evolve and an episode director on Ergo Proxy, GUNxSWORD, Intrigue in the
Bakumatsu - Irohanihoheto, Planetes, Wolf's Rain, and other series.
[News via AnimeNewsNetwork]
