3 dead after attack in central Japan; suspect with rifle and knife holed up in building

Three people including two police officers were killed in Nagano in central Japan on Thursday and a suspect with a rifle and knife was holed up inside a house, police said.

Three people including two police officers were killed in Nagano in central Japan on Thursday and a suspect with a rifle and knife was holed up inside a house, police said.

They said two women later escaped from the house. NHK public television said one of the women told police that the attacker is her son and that his father is chairman of the city assembly. Police did not comment on the report.

A witness earlier told NHK that a woman fell while being chased by the suspect, who then stabbed her with a knife and shot at two police officers as they arrived at the scene in a patrol car in Nakano city in Nagano prefecture.

The witness said he asked the suspect why he attacked her, and he replied that he wanted to kill her, NHK said.

The three victims were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were later pronounced dead, police said. A fourth person who was injured could not be rescued because he was near the suspect, Kyodo News agency reported.

Video on NHK showed police wearing bulletproof vests and carrying shields, with an ambulance nearby. The area is in a quiet farming neighbourhood.

Police described the suspect as a man wearing a camouflage outfit, a hat, a mask and sunglasses, Kyodo News said. Police set the area within a 300-meter (330-yard) radius of the site as no-go zone, and city officials urged people in the neighbourhood to stay home.