Photo/Illutration The suspect's apartment in Nagano is covered with blue tarps at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 26. (Jin Nishioka)

NAGANO—Residents in Nagano’s Nishi-Owaribe district were startled by an early morning explosion, a strange engine sound and the realization that their neighbor could be a killer.

The noises were made by a special investigation team of the Nagano prefectural police on Jan. 26 during the apprehension of Yusuke Yaguchi, a 46-year-old unemployed man.

Yaguchi is believed to have been responsible for an apparent random knife attack that left one person dead and two injured in front of JR Nagano Station, about 3 kilometers west of his apartment.

Investigators said they arrived at Yaguchi’s home, where he lived by himself, on Jan. 26 and called out to him from outside the front door. He did not respond.

The window side of his fourth-floor apartment has no balcony, so police placed a mat on the ground to cushion his fall if he tried to escape through the window.

Carrying equipment designed to deal with knife-wielding assailants, investigators entered the room after tossing in flash-bangs, which apparently disoriented Yaguchi.

The suspect was arrested at 7:13 a.m.

A self-employed neighbor in his 40s said that around 7 a.m., he heard something that sounded like an electric saw, followed by a “bang.”

“I wondered what kind of work somebody would be doing so early in the morning,” he said.

Another woman with a daughter in high school said that around the same time, she heard what sounded like a sputtering engine and then an explosion.

She later learned about the arrest.

“I had no idea that the suspect was so close,” the neighbor said. “I was worried about my daughter when she went to school. I’m relieved now.”

The SITs of prefectural police departments are generally responsible for investigating kidnappings, threats against companies, and conducting raids.

They are also usually the first ones deployed to deal with hostage situations and barricaded suspects.

FORMER CLASSSMATE SHOCKED

Yaguchi, who was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, has remained silent, according to Nagano prefectural police.

According to a 46-year-old man who was a classmate of Yaguchi in junior high school, Yaguchi was a member of the school’s basketball team and had a cheerful personality.

“(Yaguchi) seemed to be ranked at a relatively high level in terms of academic achievement,” the man said.

The former classmate recalled that during a drinking party about 20 years ago, Yaguchi told his friends that he worked in the Kanto region and that his hobby was surfing.

“I didn’t think he was the kind of person who could cause such an incident. I still can’t believe it,” the man said.

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