On the 25th, in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, a man killed a woman and two police officers with a weapon and a shotgun. The perpetrator is said to have killed the woman with a weapon and then shot and killed the police officers who were called to the scene. After the crime, the criminal hid in a private house near the scene of the crime and refused the police’s demand to “throw away the gun and surrender” and have been in a standoff for more than 5 hours.
According to Japan’s Kyodo News, around 4:25 pm on the same day, local police received a report that a man in his 30s stabbed a woman with a weapon in a village in Nakano City, northern Nagano Prefecture. After a while, when a police car arrived at the scene, it was reported that the shooter approached the police car and shot at the officer in the car. Two police officers in the car died from gunshot wounds. A woman stabbed to death was also found dead. Another man is said to have been injured, but has not yet been rescued.
According to Japan’s NHK, the perpetrator was hiding his face by wearing a mask and sunglasses at the time. A 70-year-old resident who witnessed the scene said, “The perpetrator chased after the woman who was running away and stabbed her in the back first, then stabbed her in the chest as she fell.” He said, “When I asked the culprit why he killed the woman, he said, ‘I killed because I wanted to kill him. Another witness said the shooter was a farmer in his 30s who lived nearby. The exact motive for the crime has yet to be ascertained.
Japan has strict gun laws and shootings are rare. However, in July of last year, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed by a priest at an election campaign site, followed by another shooting death, which is shocking. Authorities in Nagano Prefecture advised residents of the affected area to refrain from going out.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.