Police described the camouflage-clad attacker as a man wearing a hat, mask and sunglasses.
Three people were killed, including two police officers, and one wounded in a shooting and stabbing attack in rural Japan with the camouflage-clad perpetrator barricaded inside a building, according to news reports.
Officers rushed to the scene on Thursday after a pedestrian reported a commotion in the city of Nakano, in Japan’s central Nagano prefecture.
A witness told NHK public television that a woman fell while being chased by the suspect, who then stabbed her with a knife and shot two policemen with a shotgun when they arrived at the scene.
“A woman came running out of the road saying ‘help me’ and she fell down,” the man said. “Behind her came a man dressed in camouflage and with a large knife, who stabbed her in the back.”
A fourth person who was injured could not be rescued because they were close to where the suspect was hiding.
Police described the attacker as a man wearing a hat, mask and sunglasses, the Kyodo News agency said. City officials urged those in the area to stay home. No other details were immediately available, including about the suspect and his motives.
Crimes involving weapons are extremely rare in Japan, where gun ownership is strictly regulated and anyone seeking to own a gun must go through a rigorous process before being issued a license.
