KITAKYUSHU -- After the arrest of a 43-year-old local man over the Dec. 14 stabbing of two young students in this southwest Japan city that left a girl dead, early reports from police and neighbors are starting to detail the apparent personal history of the suspect.

Arrested was Masanori Hirabaru, a resident of Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward who lives about a kilometer from the McDonald's outlet where the incident occurred, on suspicion of the attempted murder of a 15-year-old boy who, along with the girl who lost her life, was in the third year of junior high school.

According to Fukuoka Prefectural Police, Hirabaru has admitted to the stabbings, and said "Without a doubt, I did that." The suspect is also reportedly unemployed.

What have we heard about the suspect so far?

According to the police, Hirabaru was living by himself in a two-story wooden house in a residential area. The police had twice this year, in May and October, received noise complaints related to the address such as about one or more "strange voices."

According to a 74-year-old resident of the nearby area, since the beginning of this year, several times a month the sound of firecrackers was heard from Hirabaru's house as early as 6:30 a.m. The resident believes that Hirabaru had been tossing lit fireworks from the window of his home. He also reported at least once hearing screams projected through a megaphone and music similar to military songs being played at a high volume from the suspect's car.

According to a woman who lives nearby, there used to be another person who lived at Hirabaru's house. The woman said, "It used to be a lovely house, but recently the screen door was broken, and you couldn't tell whether people lived there."

According to a man who knew the suspect as a child, Hirabaru's father had reportedly managed a gas station. The witness said the man was shy among his siblings, and said, with palpable shock, "I can't imagine a connection between him and the incident. I wonder what happened to him while I didn't see him?"

(Japanese original by Akiho Narimatsu, Maika Hyuga and Mayuka Ikeda, Kyushu News Department)