After a 12-hour manhunt in the Japanese countryside, a man was arrested Thursday afternoon in the city of Nagano after first stabbing two women and then shooting at police officers who intervened at the scene of the incident. He killed four people. Such attacks are very rare in the country. The 31-year-old shooter is the son of a city councilman.
On Friday night, Japanese police arrested a man suspected of killing four people on Thursday afternoon. The masked man, who later turned out to be the son of the city councilman, allegedly first attacked two women with a knife, and then shot at the police officers who arrived at the scene of the accident.
The two police officers and one of the women were taken to the hospital, where they died a few hours after the attack. Another elderly woman, who the police did not notice when they arrived at the scene, also died from stab wounds. She succumbed to severe injuries on the ground in front of the house, reports say Reuters.
When the alleged attacker was arrested in the morning, the police found out that he was the 31-year-old son of the chief councilor of the city of Nagano. The arrest lasted 12 hours, as the attacker locked himself in the house after both attacks. His mother and another female relative were also in it at the time of the police ambush, and they managed to escape from the house around 8:30 p.m.
Attacks with firearms are extremely rare in Japan, as gun ownership is strictly regulated. Anyone who wants to own a gun has to go through a strict vetting process. The suspect had a license for a hunting rifle, local media reported. More information about the incident will be presented by the police at a press conference at noon.
