Snow: Everyone has been wondering when we will hear some information about the 51-year-old slasher who killed one adult, one child and wounded 17 others. Well, some information is coming out but not through the usual official channels. I will tell you what is being said online by neighbors and relatives but I cannot guarantee it is all factual. He was raised by his aunt and uncle since the mother abandoned the family and the father left soon after.

From the age of about fifteen—this is not clear—he became a hikikomori, a child who stays in his room and has little or no contact with others in the house. His aunt and uncle had one or more children who had attended Caritas, the Catholic school of the injured children. So the crime was not completely random.

The aunt and uncle are now in their eighties and some relatives and neighbors are concerned for them. Several have been to the house and tried to find out just what is happening but the man did not respond at all. The aunt and uncle went to the local city hall six or seven times to get advice, saying that the man never talked to them and they were worried. On advice, they prepared a letter to him asking him some questions. His only response was: leave me alone and don't call me hikikomori.

I will speculate here and say that perhaps pressure on the man built up after the letter and he acted out. That is all we know right now. So, he wasn't homeless but did have a most unusual home life.