Photo/Illutration Three students were sent to a hospital after a small truck hit them at Wakayanagi Elementary School in Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture, on July 6. (Miya Yoshimura)

KURIHARA, Miyagi Prefecture--A 34-year-old man was arrested on July 6 after four students were injured by a light truck that rammed into them after driving onto the grounds of a public elementary school here.

Police arrested Akinori Onodera on the spot at Wakayanagi Elementary School on suspicion of attempted murder.

Onodera, a resident of the neighborhood, said he deliberately drove into the students, according to police.

Authorities responded to an emergency call after 3 p.m. from the vice principal of the school who said students were struck by a vehicle on the school’s property.

Three fourth-graders, a girl and two boys, were sent to a hospital. The female student complained of head and chest pains while the male students said their feet were injured.

They were engaged in club activities outdoors when the vehicle approached them.

The minivehicle entered the school from the back entrance on the north side of the property, according to the municipal board of education.

School officials held a meeting with parents that evening to update them on the situation.

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