Japanese police reveals bear victim is actually son’s victim

(MENAFN) Japanese authorities have revealed that a 93-year-old man, initially thought to have been killed in a bear attack, was in fact stabbed to death by his son.

Fujiyuki Shindo, 51, was arrested in northern Akita prefecture on Tuesday on suspicion of murdering his father, Fujiyoshi, according to reports.

Police initially issued a bear attack alert after the victim’s wife found him collapsed and bleeding at home. The warning was later withdrawn when investigators determined that the injuries were consistent with knife wounds rather than animal attacks.

Bear sightings have become increasingly common in northern Japan, where aging populations and reduced farmland have pushed the animals closer to human settlements.

Shindo, who lived with his parents, reportedly told police that he had noticed nothing unusual at the time of the incident. Investigators confiscated several knives from the family home as they worked to identify the murder weapon. Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the killing.

The elderly man’s death was initially attributed to a bear due to a rise in attacks across Japan. In the year ending March 2024, the Environment Ministry reported a record 219 people attacked by bears, resulting in six deaths. In a separate incident in July, a newspaper delivery worker was killed by a brown bear in a residential area.

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