TOKYO (AFP) – A suspected knifeman who attacked three elementary school children in broad daylight on a Tokyo street was being held by police on Friday after a rare incidence of violence in low-crime Japan, reports said.

The three children — two six years old and one seven years old —received cuts during the attack outside their school in the northwest of the capital around 2:00 pm (0500 GMT), Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said.

The channel said a man aged around 30 had been seen running away after the incident.

None of the victims were seriously hurt, the broadcaster said.

Japan has one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the developed world, and random attacks involving weapons of any kind are highly unusual