Suspect in Japan gun and knife attack that killed 4 arrested
- Masanori Aoki, the son of the speaker of Nakano’s city assembly, was taken into custody at his house in Nagano prefecture
- He allegedly stabbed his victims with a large knife, before using a hunting rifle to shoot two policemen who responded to emergency calls
Japanese police on Friday detained a suspect who had been holed up in a building after allegedly killing four people, including two police officers, in a gun and knife attack.
Masanori Aoki, 31, was taken into custody at his house outside a farm near the city of Nakano in the Nagano region, police said.
They also confirmed 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.
Aoki has initially been formally arrested with suspicion of murder over the death of one of the police officers, Nagano regional police chief Iwao Koyama told reporters.
He is likely to be rearrested later in connection with the other deaths, in a process that allows law enforcement to detain a suspect for longer while investigations continue.