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Police officers near the scene where an armed man barricaded himself in Nakano
Photo: JIJI PRESS / EPA
After a violent act with four dead in the Japanese prefecture of Nagano, the alleged perpetrator has been arrested. As the Japanese television station NHK reported on Friday, the man was overwhelmed in the early hours of the morning (local time) in front of his father's house in the city of Nakano. He had barricaded himself there for hours after he allegedly stabbed a woman and shot two policemen with a hunting rifle. Another elderly woman was later found dead in front of the house. Two other women, including the mother of the alleged perpetrator, were able to flee the house, according to NHK. His father remained unharmed, according to the station.
The motive for the bloody deed in a quiet, rural area with rice fields was initially unclear. The alleged perpetrator is said to be the son of the chairman of the city assembly of Nakano, it said.
"I killed her because I wanted to."
The police had received an emergency call in the afternoon of the previous day. According to media reports, an eyewitness described how a man pursued a woman screaming for help, finally grabbed her by the arm and stabbed the woman from behind in a parking lot. Then he stabbed the 66-year-old in the chest.
According to the information, the perpetrator wore camouflage clothing, a hat, sunglasses and a mask. Approached by the eyewitness, he is said to have said: "I killed her because I wanted to." When he ran away, the eyewitness rushed home and alerted the police. When the officers drove up, the perpetrator, armed with a hunting rifle, immediately shot at the driver's side of the patrol car, killing two police officers.
Japan has a reputation for being one of the safest countries in the world, thanks in part to its strict gun laws. However, attacks with knives have increased in recent years in the island kingdom.
kim/dpa/AP