A man has been arrested after four people were killed in a rare shooting and stabbing attack in Japan.
EDnews informs that the alleged assailant stabbed a woman and shot two policemen with a hunting rifle in Nagano prefecture. A fourth death was later confirmed.
Police have named the suspect as Masanori Aoki, the 31-year-old son of a local politician.
Gun violence remains extremely rare in Japan, despite the killing of ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July last year.
Shootings of multiple police officers are even rarer, with the last incident taking place more than 30 years ago.
In Thursday's incident, police received a call at around 16:25 (07:25 GMT) about a man who had chased and then stabbed a woman, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo.