Four killed in knife attack in Japan

The Japanese police have arrested a man who had holed up in a building, suspected of having killed four people, including two police officers, in a knife and gun attack. This was reported by the Kyodo agency and the NHK broadcaster.

Police confirmed the death of a fourth victim – an elderly woman who was found injured at the scene of the attack and later pronounced dead. The incident occurred in the Nakano region, in the center of the country. The attack is one of the rare cases of violent crime in Japan, which has a low homicide rate and some of the strictest gun laws in the world.

The suspect is hid for several hours in his family home, before being arrested. He allegedly stabbed his victims with a large knife, before using a shotgun to shoot two police officers who responded to emergency calls. A witness, who was working in the fields near the site of the attack, said that about half an hour earlier he had seen the attacker chasing a woman screaming for help.

The alleged perpetrator, who he wore camouflage clothing, sunglasses, a hat and a mask, grabbed the first victim, a 66-year-old woman, by the arm and stabbed her in the back with a knife with a blade about 30 centimeters long. Shortly thereafter she stabbed her again in the chest as she lay on her back. As soon as the attacker left the scene on foot, the witness called the police and led the officers to a parking lot near the scene of the stabbing.

The attacker reappeared as police were parking and opened fire with a shotgun-like weapon. Two police officers were killed in the shooting Inspector Yoshiki Tamai, 46, and Sergeant Takuo Ikeuchi, 61.