A memorial service was held Wednesday at a private elementary school in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, to mark six years since two people were killed and 18 others injured by a knife-wielding man as they waited at a bus stop.

Caritas Elementary School held a mass for the victims, while local residents placed flowers at the bus stop where the attack occurred, Kyodo News reported.

The incident occurred at around 7:40 a.m. on May 28, 2019, near a park about 250 meters from Noborito Station. The attacker, Ryuichi Iwasaki, 51, carrying two knives, approached the children waiting at the bus stop, yelling "I'm gonna kill you.”

He stabbed to death Hanako Kuribayashi, an 11-year-old student of the school, and Satoshi Oyama, the 39-year-old father of another student. Eighteen other children and their parents were also injured. Iwasaki then stabbed himself in the neck and died later in hospital.

The memorial mass was attended by around 350 people including bereaved family members and the school principal.

A man in his 30s who laid flowers at the murder site said, "I prayed that the two who died would watch over the children from heaven."

A woman in her 50s who lives nearby said, "Even after six years, I still can't forget the shock of the incident. There is still no end to incidents involving children all over the country, and I feel sad every time I see them."