Police said they arrested a man on Friday who had taken refuge 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 leaving the house and being led towards a police vehicle.
Masanori Aoki, 31, a farmer, was arrested by police under a warrant on suspicion of murder in Nakano, a city in Nagano Prefecture.
Nagano Prefectural Police Chief Iwao Koyama offered his condolences to the victims, calling the loss of two policemen «extremely regrettable.» He noted that the suspect allegedly shot a police officer to death in the left side of the chest with a hunting rifle.
National Public Safety Commission Chairman Koichi Tani told a regular press conference on Friday that the suspect had licenses for multiple air and hunting weapons authorized by the prefectural public safety commission and that license renewals your license have been successful.
Tani said that the police are investigating his records of use of weapons and that they plan to take the necessary security measures based on the results of the investigation.
Police said the house was owned by her father, a local politician. Koyama said that two women who escaped while the suspect was in hiding are the suspect’s mother and aunt and were unharmed. NHK said the mother told police that the attacker was her son and that her father was the president of the city assembly.
Japanese media quoted neighbors as describing the suspect as a calm person and unaware of any family feuds.
Police earlier said the suspect shot two police officers when they arrived on the scene after receiving an emergency call saying a woman had been stabbed. Apparently, the officers did not have bulletproof vests.
On Friday, the Nagano police chief said the suspect allegedly stabbed the 66-year-old woman to death with a survival knife.
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 two policemen as they arrived on 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 close to the suspect, was found dead early Friday, police said.
During the confrontation, television footage showed police in bulletproof vests and shields, with an ambulance nearby. Police cordoned off a 330-yard radius around the home, and city officials urged people in the quiet, farming neighborhood to stay home or stay at an evacuation center, where about 80 people are reported to have taken shelter.
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 subway stabbings and arson, and there are growing concerns about weapons and homemade explosives.