Today (Friday), the Japanese police arrested a man who had holed up in a farm in the center of the country after killing 4 people (two women and two policemen) in an attack he carried out with a knife and a firearm. The Nagano prefectural police chief, Iwao Koyama, said in a televised press conference: The suspect hid in his home after he opened fire on two policemen who arrived at the scene after a report of a stabbing of a woman. He stated that the suspect apparently used a hunting rifle in the shooting. The police chief explained that the two policemen and the woman were taken to the hospital and declared dead within hours, saying, “This is a heinous crime that aroused great fear among the residents of the region and society as a whole.” Koyama added that the suspect’s mother and another female relative were in the house with him but managed to escape.
NHK revealed that the suspect is the son of the head of the Nakano City Council in Nagano Prefecture. The dead policemen were Yoshiki Tamai, 46, and Takou Ikuchi, 61. An elderly woman died after what appeared to be a knife attack, and media said she had been lying on the ground outside the house since (Thursday) evening, and the police had not been able to reach her.
And the media announced that the police detained the man at around 4:30 am local time today (19:30 GMT), about 12 hours after the first call received by the emergency services.
Shootings are rare in Japan, where gun ownership is subject to strict procedures and those seeking to own a gun must undergo strict scrutiny. The head of the Public Safety Committee said in a separate statement that the suspect had a hunting rifle license.
