THE Japanese police confirmed today (26/5) to AFP that they arrested a mentally disturbed man accused of he murdered four people, among them two policemen, in an attack with a knife and a shotgun in a rural area in Nagano prefecture (central Japan).
The suspect, fortified since yesterday Thursday afternoon inside a house on a farm in Nakano (northeast of Nagano City), was arrested today around 04:30 [τοπική ώρα· χθες Πέμπτη στις 22:30 ώρα Ελλάδας]explained a representative of the police in the area.
A woman who had been injured succumbed to her injuries, bringing the death toll to four, the spokesman added. Yesterday afternoon, another woman was stabbed in the back by the suspect, aged in his thirties.
The man then shot and killed two policemen who arrived at the scene with a rifle before barricading himself in a house owned by his father, a local elected official in Nakano, Kyodo news agency reported.
Police said overnight that two women were able to get out of the building before the suspect was arrested: one around 8:35 p.m. [14:35], the second shortly after midnight. One is his mother, according to Kyodo.
“Help me”
“I was working on a farm when shortly after 4pm I saw a woman come running, she begged ‘help me’, then fell down”an eyewitness told Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
“She was followed by someone in a camouflage uniform holding a large knife, he stabbed her in the back”he added.
The 72-year-old eyewitness added that he called 911 while bystanders tried to revive the victim by performing CPR on the woman, to no avail.
According to NHK, which cited law enforcement officers, the young man then opened fire with a hunting rifle at two police officers who arrived at the scene. The officers were inside their patrol car when the man put the barrel of the rifle against the window and fired two shots, according to the network.
Residents of the area were asked by the authorities to lock themselves in their homes.
Gun homicides are particularly rare in Japan, where gun ownership is extremely tightly controlled.
But the country was shocked last year when former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated with an improvised weapon while delivering a campaign speech in Nara, in the western part of the archipelago.
And, last month, a young man was arrested after throwing an improvised explosive device in the direction of current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as he visited a small fishing port in Wakayama prefecture (west). Mr Kishida was not injured.
Source: News Beast
With 6 years of experience, I bring to the table captivating and informative writing in the world news category. My expertise covers a range of industries, including tourism, technology, forex and stocks. From brief social media posts to in-depth articles, I am dedicated to creating compelling content for various platforms.
