Photos: Japan knife attacker laughs before news cameras, says he wants all disabled people to 'disappear'

With a blue jacket draped over his head, Satoshi Uematsu was escorted out of a police station into a waiting van before a crowd of flashing cameras. Inside the vehicle with the jacket removed, he smiled broadly in footage broadcast on morning news shows.

Uematsu broke into Tsukui Yamayuri-en centre in the city of Sagamihara outside Tokyo in the early hours of Tuesday. He reportedly tied up two caregivers before stabbing residents using a total of five knives - leaving a total of 26 people injured, 13 of them severely. He quickly turned himself in at a police station, carrying bloodied knives and admitted to the crime. Uematsu reportedly also said:

"The disabled should all disappear."

Questions were being asked about why he had been allowed to leave the hospital where he was admitted in February for mental evaluation following his explicit threats. In a sign that the care centre feared its former employee, public broadcaster NHK - citing Kanagawa prefectural officials - said the facility in April set up 16 security cameras to watch out for him after he was discharged from the hospital.

An official at the Tsukui police station where Uematsu was held after the attack declined to comment on the investigation, only confirming that he was being transported to prosecutors for questioning. Local media said Uematsu has told police that he wants to apologise to bereaved families about the sudden loss of their loved ones, though he still justified what he did.