Four people were killed in a rare shooting and stabbing incident that involved a 12-hour stand-off with police, according to Japanese authorities, who said on Friday that they had detained a 31-year-old man in a rural location for suspected murder.
According to Reuters, the head of the Nagano prefectural police said at a televised press conference that the suspect had taken holed up in his house after shooting two police officers who had come to the area in response to a report that a woman had been stabbed.
The suspect used what appeared to be a hunting rifle in the shooting, he said.
The suspect is the son of the head of the Nakano city council, public broadcaster NHK reported.
The injured people, including two police officers and the women, were taken to hospital, but they died within hours, the police chief, Iwao Koyama, said.
“This is a heinous crime that has aroused great fear in the prefecture’s residents and society at large,” he said.
In addition, another elderly woman died after what appeared to be a knife attack, police said. Meanwhile, police detained the suspected on Friday after the first call to emergency responders, media said.
In Japan, such incidents are rare, where gun ownership is strictly controlled, and prospective gun owners must undergo a thorough screening process.
