Shooting, stabbing incident in Japan leaves three dead

Three people were killed and one injured in a shooting and stabbing incident in a city in rural Japan on Thursday, with the perpetrator having barricaded himself inside a building, media reported.

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Few details were immediately available about the incident, in which a man dressed in camouflage stabbed a woman with a knife and shot with what appeared to be a hunting rifle in the city of Nakano in Nagano prefecture, central Japan, NHK national television said.

Two police officers also died, and one person was injured, the broadcaster added. The injured person is still believed to be lying nearby the scene of the incident, it said. The perpetrator is believed to be barricaded in the house of the city council president, and multiple gunshots were heard nearby the site, Kyodo news agency reported.

Crimes involving guns are extremely rare in Japan, where firearm ownership is tightly regulated and anyone seeking to own a gun must go through a rigorous process before a license is granted.