4 dead, including 2 police officers, after violent rampage in Japan; suspect surrenders

Four people including two police officers were reportedly killed Thursday during a violent rampage in Japan’s central Nagano region.

The suspect was assumed to be the son of the city assembly’s speaker, Masamichi Aoki, according to local media

Police received a call in the late afternoon with reports that a “man stabbed a woman” in Nakano City, a local police official told CNN. Witnesses on the scene told NHK public television that a victim fell while being chased by the suspect, who then stabbed her.

When authorities arrived on the scene, the man opened fire with what appeared to be a hunting rifle, striking four people, before barricading himself inside a building. He was wearing a camouflage outfit and his face was mostly obscured with a hat, mask and sunglasses, Kyodo News agency reported.

After an hours-long standoff, the man was captured early Friday morning local time, according to Japanese media. The man reportedly walked out of the house and surrendered.

Three of the victims were taken to a nearby hospital, including the woman, and were later pronounced dead, police said.

It was not immediately clear how the fourth casualty, an old woman, died in the rampage.

No other details, including about the suspect and his motives, were immediately known.

Gun violence is rare in Japan, which has some of the strictest gun laws in the world. The nation was recently rocked by the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot in last July during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.

With News Wire Services