Four dead after attack in Nagano, central Japan; suspect with rifle and knife holed up in house

Police officers stand guard where at least three people including two police officers were killed in Nakano, a city in Nagano prefecture. Photo / via AP

Police said they arrested a man today who had holed up in his father’s house armed with a rifle and a knife after allegedly killing four people, including two police officers, in central Japan.

TV Asahi showed the man with his hands on his head walk out of the house and be ushered into a police vehicle.

Masanori Aoki, 31, a farmer, was arrested under a court warrant on suspicion of murder by police in Nakano, a city in Nagano prefecture. Police said the house was owned by his father, a local politician. NHK public television said one of two women who escaped while the suspect was holed up told police that the attacker was her son and that his father was chairman of the city assembly.

Police officers stand guard on a street near a building where a man is holed up in Nakano, central Japan. Photo / AP

Police said earlier that two police officers were shot by the suspect when they arrived at the scene after receiving an emergency call saying a woman was stabbed.

A witness told NHK on Thursday that a woman fell while being chased by the suspect, who then stabbed her with a knife and shot at two police officers as they arrived at the scene in a patrol car.

The woman and the two police officers were pronounced dead at a hospital. An older woman, who was injured but could not be rescued because she was near the suspect, was found dead early today, police said.

During the standoff, TV footage showed police wearing bulletproof vests and carrying shields, with an ambulance nearby. Police sealed off a 300-metre radius around the house, and city officials urged people in the quiet farming neighbourhood to stay home.

Violent crimes are rare in Japan. It has strict gun control laws and only a handful of gun-related crimes annually. But in recent years, there have been some high-profile cases involving random knifings on subways and arson attacks, and there is growing concern about homemade guns and explosives.

- AP