Two women and two police officers were killed Thursday afternoon in an attack in the city of Nakano in central Japan. The killer, wearing a camouflage uniform, was armed with a hunting rifle and a knife and he used both. First he stabbed a woman and declared he wants to kill. His motive is not clear. He fled the scene and barricaded in his father house, a local politician, the speaker of Nakano city’s assembly. About 60 nearby residents were evacuated to a local junior high school, according to local media.
The police said that the suspect was captured early Friday morning. NHK identified the suspect as Masanori Aoki, a 31-year-old farmer who owned a gelato shop in the neighbourhood. After the arrest, people were told they could go about their day. “Police are investigating to uncover the whole picture of the incident, including how the crime developed and its background,” top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told media. Gun incidents and homicides in Japan are very rare because the country has some of the strictest rules in the world to purchase firearms. In all of 2022, just nine gun-related incidents were reported in Japan. Shootings of multiple police officers are even rarer.
