scorecardresearch
Friday, March 29, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomeWorldFour dead, suspect arrested in rare shooting & stabbing incident in Japan

Four dead, suspect arrested in rare shooting & stabbing incident in Japan

The 31-year-old suspect, son of the head of the Nakano city council in Nagano, was arrested Friday in rural Japan after 12-hour stand-off with the police.

Follow Us :
Text Size:

Tokyo: A 31-year-old man was arrested on Friday in rural Japan for suspected murder after four people were killed in a rare shooting and stabbing incident involving a 12-hour stand-off with police, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The suspect, the son of the head of the Nakano city council in Nagano prefecture, had holed up in his father’s house after allegedly shooting two police officers who arrived at the scene in response to a report that a woman had been stabbed, NHK said.

The two police officers and the woman were taken to hospital and pronounced dead within hours, media said.

Another elderly woman also died after an apparent attack. She had been lying on the ground outside the house since Thursday afternoon and police had been unable to get to her, media said.

NHK said the suspect had been dressed in camouflage and allegedly used what appeared to be a hunting rifle in the shootings.

Police detained the man around 4:30 a.m. (1930 GMT) on Friday, about 12 hours after the first call to emergency responders, media said. He was arrested for the suspected murder of one of the police officers, NHK said.

Shootings are extremely rare in Japan, where gun ownership is tightly regulated and anyone seeking to own a gun must go through a rigorous vetting process. The suspect had a licence for a hunting rifle, NHK reported.

The suspect’s mother and another relative who were in the house with him escaped at around 8:30 p.m. and midnight, respectively, reports said.

Few other details were known, including the suspect’s motive.

Nagano prefectural police are due to hold a press conference at midday Friday.

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Michael Perry)

Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular