TOKYO (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, media reported that US Navy sailor Aimee Mejia from the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa injured two people in a reported drunk driving incident. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida lodged an official protest with the US ambassador over the incident.
Kennedy expressed regret on behalf of the US government, and stressed that the incident triggered anger as it came at the time of mourning for a Japanese woman, who was killed by a former US serviceman last month, according to the Japanese Kyodo news agency.
The ambassador said that the US government would provide full support to the investigation.
In late May, a former US Marine, Kenneth Franklin was arrested on suspicion of stabbing and strangling a 20-year-old Japanese woman near US Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. The woman, Rina Shimabukuro, disappeared on April 28 and was later found dead in a forest. Franklin has reportedly admitted to raping her and committing the murder.
