Something terrible has happened at yesterday's handshake event. Copying and pasting from my tumblr post (
http://oshiri-sisters.tumblr.com/post/86834766133/just-another-nld-kid-replied-to-your-post-they)
Yesterday, AKB had a handshake event in Iwate prefecture. It wasn’t one of the big ones where each girl has her own lane, but rather the type where each lane has 5 girls. A 24-year-old man went to the event (with tickets and everything) and got in Ricchan and Annin’s lane. When it was his time to shake hands, he drew out a hand saw and slashed Ricchan, Annin, and a staff member. From what I can gather, the most recent reports say that Ricchan had injuries to her hand and Annin had injuries to the back of her head (and her hand?).
The culprit was caught and is charged with attempted murder. The girls (including Mocchi, Akicha, and Ryoka who were in the lane as well but did not sustain physical injuries) and the staff member were taken in an ambulance to the hospital and treated there. The surgeries took 3 hours because hands are quite difficult to perform surgery on—they have many bones and tendons, so surgery has to be very careful to make sure everything is treated well and will heal well.
According to reports, the place where the event was held DOES check bags but not very thoroughly, so it isn’t entirely surprising that the weapon was con confiscated. Also, the mother of the culprit stated that her son, who is unemployed and I’m guessing lives at home, is not an AKB fan and she has never seen him with any AKB CDs or merchandise.
Not much else is known. Yuko posted on Google+ saying something along the lines of “I can’t believe such a thing has happened. Thank God the girls are safe.” but was deleted shortly after. None of the girls have made any social media updates about the incident, presumably for legal reasons. Graduated members have expressed their support for the girls and distress over what happened.
Now we wait and see.
To find out more, check tumblr or stage48.
