Rare shooting and stabbing attacks in Japan leave three dead

A rare shooting and stabbing attack in Japan left three dead including two police officers, according to local police.

Police received a call in the late afternoon with reports that a “man stabbed a woman,” a Nakano City police official told the media.

When officers rushed to the scene, the man fired something resembling a hunting rifle, striking four people, before fleeing the scene and barricading himself in a building, he added.

NHK later reported that two police officers also died from their injuries and that one other person was injured.

The suspect was wearing a camouflage hat, top, and bottoms with sunglasses and a mask, according to NHK.

Meanwhile, the authorities designated an “evacuation zone” with a radius of 300 meters around the incident scene.

The police spokesman added that its forces are investigating reports a gunshot-like sound was heard near the scene hours after the attack.

Gun violence is extremely rare in Japan, a country of 125 million people. It has one of the lowest rates of gun crimes in the world due to its extremely strict gun control laws.

However, Japan was rocked by a shooting last year that reverberated around the world.

Shinzo Abe, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, was shot dead during a campaign speech in Nara in July.