Man arrested after four killed in Japan gun and knife attack

Japanese police on Friday detained a suspect who had holed up in a building after allegedly killing four people, including two police officers, in a gun and knife attack.

The man was taken into custody outside a farm near the city of Nakano in Nagano region, with police confirming a fourth fatality overnight -- an elderly woman who was found injured at the scene and later pronounced dead.

Another woman and two police officers were earlier confirmed dead in the attack.

Police told AFP that the 31-year-old suspect had been detained at about 4:30 am (1930 GMT Thursday), and later confirmed he had been formally arrested on suspicion of murder using a suspected hunting rifle.

The rampage in a rural area of the western region was a rare instance of violent crime in Japan, which has a low murder rate and some of the world's toughest gun laws.

No motive has yet emerged in the killings, nor has the suspect been formally identified, though several local media reported he is the son of the speaker of Nakano's city assembly.

"We pray for the souls of the deceased and express our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families," top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.

"Police are investigating to uncover the whole picture of the incident, including how the crime developed and its background."

Residents were urged by authorities to stay indoors in the semi-rural area around the city of Nakano in Nagano region, where the attack took place. It was a rare instance of violent crime in Japan, which has a low murder rate and some of the world's toughest gun laws.

Public broadcaster NHK and other major outlets said the woman was stabbed and the two police officers were shot in the afternoon attack. Police did not immediately confirm details when contacted by AFP.

A witness told NHK he had been working at a farm nearby when "a woman came running from the road saying 'help me', and she fell down".

"Behind her came a man wearing camouflage and carrying a large knife, who stabbed her in the back," the 72-year-old witness said.

He said he called emergency services while neighbours tried to resuscitate the woman.

NHK, citing police, said the attacker then fired what appeared to be a shotgun at the police officers who arrived at the scene. The officers were inside a patrol car and the attacker placed the weapon against a window of the vehicle and fired twice, NHK reported.

Another man was injured in the attack but could not be rescued because he was too close to the building where the suspect has taken shelter, Kyodo News said.

Japan was left reeling in July last year when former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead in broad daylight with an apparently homemade gun.

Abe's accused assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, reportedly targeted the politician over his links to the Unification Church.

And last month, a man was arrested for allegedly hurling a pipe bomb-like explosive towards current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as he campaigned in the western city of Wakayama.

Kishida was unharmed and a man arrested on the scene will undergo a three-month psychiatric examination, a regional court said this week.

The suspect has reportedly remained tight-lipped about his motive for that failed attack.

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