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A witness points to the seat where Ichihashi was sitting at a ferry terminal in Osaka on Tuesday evening. (Mainichi)

Tatsuya Ichihashi, who was arrested Tuesday in connection with the killing of British teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker, was in possession of toy guns and several hundred thousand yen at the time of his apprehension, it has emerged.

Police detained Ichihashi at a ferry terminal in Osaka following a tip-off on Tuesday evening. Police from Gyotoku Police Station in Chiba Prefecture, where Ichihashi was transferred after his arrest, have found that Ichihashi had intended to board a ferry to Okinawa.

A police van carrying Ichihashi arrived at Gyotoku Police Station at 12:46 a.m. on Wednesday. Investigators said that on the way to the police station, Ichihashi was looking down and appeared tired. He reportedly told police he had nothing to say.

"I've got no excuses. I don't want to say anything," police quoted Ichihashi as saying.

It is believed that Ichihashi had been trying to escape following the release of a photo taken after he underwent cosmetic surgery, but his arrest Tuesday brought his 2-year, 7-month run from police to an end.

Investigators said they received a phone call at 6:44 p.m. on Tuesday from a ferry company employee reporting a person resembling Ichihashi near a ferry terminal in Osaka's Suminoe Ward. A car from Suminoe Police Station arrived at the scene about 1 minute later, and officers found Ichihashi with his head down in a waiting room of the terminal. When an officer asked him, "Are you Ichihashi?" he reportedly nodded silently.

Ichihashi had tried to board a 6:30 p.m. ferry to a port in Naha, but the only available ferry that day was one leaving at 11 p.m. To board the ferry, passengers had to be processed between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The ferry company said that Ichihashi had been reading a book in the waiting room. When workers checked at around 6:30 p.m., he was found asleep in the same seat.

"I thought it was strange that he was the only one who had not undergone procedures (to board the ferry), and since he looked like Ichihashi I reported him," the person who filed the report said.

Ichihashi was wearing a gray knit cap, sunglasses and a mask, and was dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans. He was carrying a small bag and was in possession of several hundred thousand yen in cash and toy guns.

A 68-year-old man from Ehime Prefecture who was in the same waiting room said he saw a man curled up who stood out from the other passengers around him. He was reportedly talking with other passengers about how the man resembled Ichihashi.

"I thought he looked quite similar, but I never imagined that he would actually be here," the man said.

Another 56-year-old transport company worker said that Ichihashi sat down diagonally behind him. He said he felt Ichihashi was "creepy and strange." He said he heard a police officer who arrived at the scene talking on his radio, saying, "He doesn't want to say his name," "He's carrying four toy guns."

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Ichihashi may have been working at a construction company in Kobe between February and June last year. Until last month Ichihashi had worked at a separate construction company in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, under the name Kosuke Inoue, the same name that the person working at the Kobe construction company used.

The man in Kobe believed to be Ichihashi had lived in a company dormitory between Feb. 28 and June 26. While he was working at the company, which he was introduced to by a company insider in Osaka's Nishinari Ward, he did not wear glasses or a hat, and tied his hair behind his head. He had not grown a beard. During the period he worked at the company, he reportedly earned take-home pay of around 600,000 yen.