Police say they arrested the suspect, who was hiding in a house in central Japan, after allegedly killing four people, including two police officers
From
MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press
May 25, 2023 5:47 am ET
• 3 min reading
TOKYO – Police said they arrested a man Friday who was holed up in his father’s home armed with a rifle and a knife after allegedly killing four people, including two police officers, in central Japan.
TV Asahi showed the man leaving the house with his hands on his head and being led to a police vehicle.
Masanori Aoki, 31, a farmer, was arrested by police under a court order on suspicion of murder in Nakano, a city in Nagano Prefecture.
Nagano Prefectural Police Chief Iwao Koyama offered his condolences to the victims and said the loss of two police officers was “extremely regrettable.” He noted that the suspect allegedly shot a police officer in the left chest with a hunting rifle.
National Public Safety Commission chairman Koichi Tani said at a regular news conference on Friday that the suspect held multiple hunting and airgun licenses approved by the prefectural Public Safety Commission and that his license renewals were due were carried out.
Tani said police are investigating his gun use records and plan to take necessary security measures based on the findings.
According to police, the house belonged to his father, a local politician. Koyama said the two women who escaped while the suspect was in hiding were the suspect’s mother and aunt and were unharmed. NHK said the mother told police the attacker was her son and that his father was the chairman of the city council.
Japanese media quoted neighbors as describing the suspect as a quiet person and that they were not aware of any family feud.
Police previously said two police officers were shot dead by the suspect as they arrived at the scene after receiving an emergency call saying a woman had been stabbed. The officers were apparently not wearing bulletproof vests.
On Friday, the Nagano Police Chief said the suspect allegedly stabbed the 66-year-old woman with a survival knife.
A witness told NHK Thursday that a woman fell as she was being pursued by the suspect, who then stabbed her with a knife and shot two police officers as they arrived at the scene in a squad car.
The woman and the two police officers were pronounced dead at a hospital. An elderly woman who was injured but could not be rescued because she was near the suspect was found dead early Friday, police said.
During the altercation, television footage showed police officers wearing bulletproof vests and riot shields while an ambulance was nearby. Police cordoned off a 1,000-foot radius around the home, and city officials urged people in the quiet farming district 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. There are strict gun control laws and only a handful of gun crimes occur each year. But in recent years there have been some high-profile cases involving random knife attacks on subways and arson attacks, and concerns about homemade weapons and explosives are growing.
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Corrected this story to correct attribution to TV Asahi in the 2nd paragraph.