Intruder fatally stabs teenage girl

HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) A 17-year-old high school student was fatally stabbed Tuesday and her grandmother seriously injured by a man who broke into their family compound in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture.

Police said Satomi Kitaguchi was stabbed several times in the chest, abdomen and neck. Her grandmother, Michiyo, 72, remained unconscious after the attack, which took place around 3 p.m.

Kitaguchi lived with her parents, Michiyo and a younger sister and brother at the compound, which comprises three buildings: Michiyo's house, the house where the rest of the family lives and a detached house.

At the time of the incident, Michiyo and Kitaguchi's sister, a sixth-grader, were in the grandmother's house, while Kitaguchi herself was taking a nap in the detached house after taking end-of-term exams at school that morning, police said.

Kitaguchi's sister and Michiyo heard screams from the detached house and ran to find Kitaguchi on the first floor, covered in blood.

The sister said she caught a fleeting glimpse of a young man before she ran to a nearby gardening shop to seek help.

As the owner of the shop called the police, the sister heard her grandmother scream. After running back to the compound, she found Michiyo lying in her own house, bleeding from multiple stab wounds, according to investigators.

The man was described by witnesses as wearing black and being somewhere between a teenager and in his 30s. He is wanted on suspicion of murder.