Reports: 3 dead after attacks in central Japan; police searching for masked man with rifle and knife

TOKYO (AP) — 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 building, according to police and media reports.

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A witness told NHK public television 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 Nakano city in the prefecture of Nagano.

The three were taken to a nearby hospital, where the woman was later pronounced dead, police said. The two police officers also died later, according to NHK. A fourth person who was injured could not be rescued because he was near where the suspect was holed up, Kyodo News agency reported.

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Television footage on NHK showed uniformed police wearing bulletproof vests and carrying shields with an ambulance nearby.

Police described the suspect as a man wearing a camouflage outfit, a hat, a mask and sunglasses, Kyodo News said. City officials urged those in the area to stay home.

No other details, including about the suspect and his motives, were immediately known.

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