in February after writing the letter, saying he would 'wipe out a total of 470 disabled individuals'


The crazed knifeman who hacked 19 people to death at a care home in Japan because he wanted to ‘get rid of the disabled from this world’ was pictured smiling as he left a police station on Wednesday.

Satoshi Uematsu, 26, broke into the centre by smashing a window with a hammer, killing 19 people and seriously injuring 26 people as they slept, in what has been deemed the country's worst mass murder since World War II.

He used to work at the care facility but was sacked in February and in the same month was sectioned after trying to pass a letter to the lower house speaker of Japan's parliament in which he detailed his plans to 'wipe out a total of 470 disabled individuals' by entering two care homes in the night.

Uematsu's Twitter profile highlights his deranged thoughts and in one image he is shown sporting a large back tattoo. According to Uematsu's neighbour, Akihiro Hasegawa, he had initially gotten in trouble with the facility over the tattoo as inkings are commonly associated with criminal gangs in Japan.

In another photo, tweeted at 2.50am on Tuesday - just minutes after the massacre - Uematsu is seen wearing a suit, grinning alongside a message in Japanese which reads: 'May there be peace in the world'. In English he added the words: 'Beautiful Japan!!!!!!'.

He went into the Tsukui Yamayuri En (Tsukui Lily Garden) facility in Sagamihara, outside of Tokyo, brandishing a knife at around 2.10am and police were called at 2.30am local time.

Police have now searched the home of the killer, who reportedly said he wanted all disabled people to 'disappear', after the knife rampage that left his victims in pools of blood, including some who were stabbed in the neck.

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Smiling assassin: Satoshi Uematsu is pictured grinning as he leaves police station in a van on his way to be grilled by prosecutors

According to Uematsu's neighbour, Akihiro Hasegawa, he had initially gotten in trouble with the care facility after sporting a large back tattoo (left). He was later sacked. Uematsu posted a sick selfie (right) with the caption 'beautiful Japan' after carrying out the massacre

Satoshi Uematsu, 26, has been arrested after he hacked 19 people to death at a disabled care home outside of Tokyo

Members of the media crowd outside as police officers raid the house of Satoshi Uematsu after he was arrested on Tuesday

Forensic police examine the bloody scene at the Tsukui Yamayuri En disabled care centre in Sagamihara, outside of Tokyo, where at least 19 people were hacked to death by a man brandishing a knife

At least 19 people were killed and reports that at least 26 were injured as officers arrest a man who said 'I did it'

Police were first called to the scene after residents saw a man with blond hair armed with a blade in black clothes in the centre's grounds.

Uematsu was arrested after he walked into a police station 30 minutes after the gruesome attack and stated 'I did it'. Nine women and 10 men aged between 18 and 70 are among the dead.

Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported that the suspect told police: 'I want to get rid of the disabled from this world.'

Kyodo news service has released the letter that Uematsu tried to present to Tadamori Oshima, the speaker of the lower house of Japan's parliament, in February calling for euthanasia of disabled people.

In it, Uematsu described detailed plans on how he would carry out such an attack during the night when there were few staff working. He wrote he would then turn himself in to the police and asked that after being jailed for 'two years' he is given a new identity, including 'a disguise for regular society through plastic surgery'.

Uematsu said that by killing the disabled he would stimulate the world economy and maybe even prevent a World War III.

'Now is the time to carry out a revolution and make an inevitable but tough decision for the sake of all mankind,' Uematsu wrote.

'My goal is a world in which, in cases where it is difficult for the severely disabled to live at home and be socially active, they can be euthanized with the consent of their guardians,' the letter reportedly said.

He claimed he could 'wipe out a total of 470 disabled individuals' by entering two care homes in the night.

'The act will be carried out speedily, and definitely without harming the staff. After wiping out the 260 people in two facilities, I will turn myself in,' he said.

After he attempted to deliver the letter in February, he was involuntarily taken to hospital but released about two weeks later on 2 March.

Earlier disturbing tweets on the account believed to belong to Uematsu have also been uncovered.

On February 19 - believed to be around the time Uematsu was sacked from the care facility - he wrote: 'I may be arrested'.

On January 20, he said: 'I have been found out at the company. I want to survive this with a smile. I will do my best as a 25-year-old!!'

After the Munich massacre on July 23 that left nine people dead, Uematsu allegedly wrote: 'It would have been fun if it had been a toy.'

Police found blood of the steering wheel of a car the suspect drove to the police station to hand himself in

Blood stains are seen around the handle of the car Uematsu drove in to and from the care home during his rampage

Television footage showed a number of ambulances parked outside the facility, with medics and other rescue workers running in and out

In this aerial image, police officers investigate the room where suspect Satoshi Uematsu broke into before stabbing residents at Tsukui Yamayuri En care home

Satoshi Uematsu, 26, is in custody and is reported to have said: ' I want to get rid of the disabled from this world'

The attacker went into a centre for disabled people in the city of Sagamihara, west of Tokyo, brandishing a knife

Police were called to the scene at around 2.30am local time after residents saw a man armed with a blade in the grounds of the Tsukui Yamayuri Garden

National state broadcaster NHK had reported that 45 people were injured in the attack but revised that down to 'at least 20'

The car the murder suspect apparently drove to the police station after he killed a number of people and injured dozens in a knife attack is parked at the Tsukui Police Station in Sagamihara

THE DISTURBING WARNING LETTER SENT BY KILLER SATOSHI UEMATSU BEFORE JAPAN STABBING Dear Lower House Speaker Tadamori Oshima, Thank you very much for reading this letter. I can wipe out a total of 470 disabled individuals. I am fully aware that my remark is eccentric. However, thinking about the tired faces of guardians, the dull eyes of caregivers working at the facility, I am not able to contain myself, and so I decided to take action today for the sake of Japan and the world. My reasoning is that I may be able to revitalize the world economy and I thought it may be possible to prevent World War III. I envision a world where a person with multiple disabilities can be euthanized, with an agreement from the guardians, when it is difficult for the person to carry out household and social activities. I believe there is still no answer about the way of life for individuals with multiple disabilities. The disabled can only create misery. I think now is the time to carry out a revolution and to make the inevitable but tough decision for the sake of all mankind. Let Japan take the first big step. Would Mr. Tadamori Oshima, who bears the world, use his power to make the world proceed in a better direction? I sincerely hope you would deliver this message to Mr. Shinzo Abe. This is the answer I reached after serious thinking about what I can do for humankind. Dear Lower House Speaker Tadamori Oshima, would you lend your power for the sake of dear Japan and all humankind? Please give this full consideration. Satoshi Uematsu The Plot: It will be carried out during the night shift, when staffing is low. The target will be two facilities where many multiply disabled people reside. Staff on guard will be strapped with cable so they can't move and can't make contact with anyone outside. The act will be carried out speedily, and definitely without harming the staff. After wiping out the 260 people in two facilities, I will turn myself in. In carrying out the act, I have several requests. After my arrest, my incarceration should be up to two years, and please let me lead a free life afterward. Innocence on grounds of insanity. A new name (Takashi Iguro), government registration and documents such as a driver's license needed for everyday life. A disguise for regular society through plastic surgery. Financial aid of 500 million yen ($5 million). I would like these conditions to be promised. If you can make your decision, I will carry it out at any time. Please consider this fully for the sake of Japan and world peace. I hope with all my heart that this can be discussed with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, although I am sorry to trouble him in an unimaginably busy schedule. Satoshi Uematsu Advertisement

The 26-year-old had 'a number of sharp weapons in his bag, a number of them bloodstained' when he turned himself in to police, according to local media.

Officials say at least 19 people were killed in the frenzy attack, while another 26 were left seriously injured and taken to six different hospitals to be treated.

The death toll could make this the worst mass killing in Japan in the post-World War II era.

Police said they were still investigating possible motives. Some reports said he held a grudge after being fired from his job at the facility.

Government officials have ruled out any link to Islamic extremism as a motive.

'This is a very heart-wrenching and shocking incident in which many innocent people became victims,' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

A staff member carries flowers, offered by Japan's Kanagawa prefecture Governor Yuji Kuroiwa to mourn victims, as he visits the facility

Police officers have now covered the entrance where Uematsu broke in and slaughtered 19 people

Governor of Japan's Kanagawa prefecture Yuji Kuroiwa (C) prays to mourn victims as he visits the facility

Armed police encircled the local government supported centre, which offers support to 150 people with a wide range of disabilities aged between 19-75.

The centre provides rehabilitation activities, accommodation and a medical clinic.

Television footage showed a number of ambulances parked outside the facility, with medics and other rescue workers running in and out. Almost 30 'emergency squads' responded to the attack.

A man identified as the father of a patient in the centre told NHK he learned about the attack on the radio and had received no further information.

'I'm very worried but they won't let me in,' he said, standing just outside a cordon of yellow crime-scene tape.

A woman who lives opposite the centre told reporters: 'I was told by a policeman to stay inside my house, as it could be dangerous.

'Then ambulances began arriving, and blood-covered people were taken away.'

Akie Inoue said her daughter knew the suspect from events at the facility when she was in elementary school.

'I was surprised to hear that the culprit was a person from this neighborhood,' she said. 'My daughter knew the culprit, I mean, they were acquainted. They would greet each other when they would meet and she tells me that he was a very kind person. We are all very shocked.'

Her daughter, Honoka, said: 'He had a cheerful impression... He was the kind of person that would greet you first.'

A statue can be seen through the window of the home where knifeman Satoshi Uematsu lived

The 26-year-old (who home is pictured) had 'a number of sharp weapons in his bag, a number of them bloodstained' when he turned himself in, according to local media

Media have gathered outside the home of the man who went on a knife-wielding rampage at a nearby care centre

A U.S. government statement issued by the White House expressed shock at the 'heinous attack'.

'The United States offers our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in the heinous attack today in Sagamihara, Japan,' it read.

'We also pray for the speedy recovery of the dozens of individuals who were wounded. There is never any excuse for such violence, but the fact that this attack occurred at a facility for persons with disabilities makes it all the more repugnant and senseless.

'The thoughts of the American people are with our Japanese friends as they mourn the lives lost.'

The city is home to a large US Army depot called the Sagami Army Depot.

Sagamihara, which has a population of around 720,000, last made international news in 2012 when one of the suspects in the 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway was arrested there.

The stabbings are likely to shock Japan, a country with one of the lowest crime rates.

The large centre offers rehabilitation facilities, day activities as well as overnight accommodation

Police said the man, who had a 'number of sharp weapons', used to work at the centre before bosses sacked him

A Japanese police officer blocks a road to a residential care facility (part of the facility tower is seen in rear)

Japanese police Identification Unit officers arrive at the scene in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, about 60km west of Tokyo

The man stabbed residents at the facility with a knife and later turned himself in to a local police station

Details are still emerging but it is the worst mass stabbing in Japan in recent years

in 2001, a man stabbed eight children to death and wounded 15 other people at a secondary school in Ikeda.

In 2008, a man drove a lorry into a crowd in Tokyo, running people over before going on a stabbing rampage. He killed seven and injured 10.

The disabled centre attack comes after Mayu Tomita, a Japanese pop star, was left in a coma in May when a fan stabbed her dozens of times after she allegedly turned down a gift he had sent her.

Police later recovered a three-inch knife from the crime scene in western Tokyo. A bloodstained mask and a trail of blood were also found on a set of stairs near to where the star had been due to perform a concert.

Tomohiro Iwazaki, 27, later confessed to stabbing Tomita in the neck and chest.

He claimed he 'ambushed' the star because she returned a gift he sent her.

In March last year, five people were also stabbed to death in a knife attack on a Japanese island.

A man was arrested after the victims were discovered in two houses.

Media reports said those killed range in age from 60 to 80 and lived in homes set among farms in the city of Sumoto on Awaji Island.

Armed police encircled the centre and a man in his 20s was later arrested on suspicion of murder