charges. In the second incident, while driving near the Metropolitan Expressway, Takuma caused a motorist to fatally collide with a side wall. He immediately left the scene. In September 1993, Takuma was again arrested for rape. In 1998, he was fired after assaulting a bus passenger over the smell of her perfume. He found a new job as maintenance man at Itami Elementary School, six kilometers away from Ikeda. Later that year, Takuma was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his ex-wife. On 3 March 1999, Takuma dissolved temazepam, a tranquilizer, into the tea served in the teachers' room, sending four people to the hospital for three days. Regarding this incident he said, "I was ignored by the teachers and did not go well with my family, and I wanted to relieve my anger due to human relationships." Takuma was arrested, but was not criminally punished as was found "not responsible" due to mental illness. In November 1999, Takuma was arrested on suspicion of burglary, but the charges were dropped. He managed to get a job as a taxi driver in September 2000, but was fired the following month after he assaulted a hotel bellhop in Osaka, breaking his nose. In November 2000, Takuma got a job as a truck driver at a construction materials company in Ikeda, but was fired a few months later due to problems including a road rage incident. He was also kicked out of several apartments for, among other things, throwing his garbage out from the balcony. On 23 May 2001, Takuma voluntarily admitted himself into a psychiatric hospital for depression, but left the next day without treatment. He was also arrested for driving his car in reverse gear on the Hanshin Expressway but released after he was found mentally unfit. Massacre On 8 June 2001, the day of his court hearing for the bellhop assault case, Takuma went on a murderous rampage at Ikeda Elementary School. He began to attack students and teachers with a kitchen knife until he was wrestled down by staff. In the quick attack, Takuma killed eight students (seven 8-year-old girls and one 7-year-old boy) and seriously wounded thirteen other children and two teachers. He was described as being in an extremely confused state when arrested, at first repeating, "I went to the elementary school", and then saying, "I went to the train station and stabbed 100 people with my knife.