(Reuters)

Three people, including two police officers, were killed in a shooting and stabbing incident in a city in rural Japan on Thursday (May 25), with the suspect having barricaded himself inside a house, police said.

According to reports, officers rushed to the scene after a pedestrian reported a commotion in Nakano city in the central Japanese prefecture of Nagano.

A witness told Kyodo news agency that a woman fell while being chased by the suspect, who then stabbed her with a knife and shot at two police officers with a shotgun as they arrived at the scene.

“A woman came running from the road saying, ‘help me’ and she fell down. Behind her came a man wearing camouflage and carrying a large knife, who stabbed her in the back,” the man said.

A fourth person, who was near where the suspect was holed up, was injured during the incident.

According to several media reports, the attacker was described as a man wearing a hat, mask and sunglasses.

City officials urged residents in the area to stay home. No other details, including about the suspect and his motives, were immediately known.

A RARE ACT OF VIOLENCE

Crimes involving guns are extremely rare in Japan, where gun ownership is tightly regulated and anyone seeking to own a gun must go through a rigorous process before a licence is granted.

But in recent years, there have been some high-profile cases involving random knifings on subways and arson attacks, and there is growing concern about homemade guns and explosives.