Kyoto Animation arson suspect arrested

The suspect of the deadly Kyoto Animation arson attack has been arrested last Wednesday, May 27, 10 months after the incident which killed 36 people and injured another 33.

Shinji Aoba, 42-year-old man from Saitama allegedly set fire to the Studio 1 building of the animation studio on July 18, 2019 by dousing the area and several employees with gasoline then igniting it.

The suspect proceeded to set himself on fire before fleeing the scene but was apprehended by police. Aoba admitted the crime and accused the animation studio of stealing his ideas.

Kyoto Animation has held public contests in the past where they accept drafts of novels and pick from them to adapt into an anime series.

According to a report by Kyodo News, the studio confirmed receiving an entry from a person named Aoba but denied ever basing any anime from that particular work.

Because of his severe burns, Aoba was hospitalized in Osaka for months and received multiple skin grafts before being transferred to another hospital in Kyoto for rehabilitation.

Police have intended to arrest him back in January but has been deemed too ill. Aside from this, the spread of COVID-19 has also delayed his arrest.

Aoba has been taken to a Kyoto's Fushimi Police Station for interrogation as authorities believe that his condition has stabilized sufficiently.

"I thought that if I sprayed gasoline around the building while setting the fire, I could kill more people, so that's why I did that," Sora News 24 quotes the suspect saying during the interview following his arrest.

Kyoto Animation was founded in 1981 and is behind anime like K-On!, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, A Silent Voice, Clannad, and Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon.

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