It doesn't take long, just 10 minutes for a man with a kitchen knife to wreck havoc and take a few lives, precious lives of innocent children ...

A Deadly Rampage

June 9th 2001

TOKYO - A 37-year-old man burst into an elementary school in Ikeda, a suburb of Osaka, about 310 miles west of Tokyo on Friday and began stabbing and slashing students and teachers.

The mass killing sent hundreds of panicked children - many of them sobbing and screaming for help - scrambling to get out of the school premises.

Several children were slashed before two teachers managed to pin him down and the police arrived on the scene. Two children were pronounced dead at the scene, six died at the hospital an six more were said to have serious injuries.

The knife wielding killer, identified as Mamoru Takuma, was taken into custody. Local media reported him as having a history of psychological problems.

Although Japan has strict gun laws and relatively low crime rates, the number of fatal stabbings has been on the rise.