Japanese soldier arrested after fatal gun-range shooting-defence ministry

[June 14, 2023]  TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese police arrested an 18-year-old soldier on Wednesday after he shot and killed two instructors and injured a third at a military firing range in central Japan, the country's defence ministry said.  

The incident at about 9 a.m (24:00 GMT) in Gifu City was the first such fatal shooting at a Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF) firing range since 1984, GSDF Chief of Staff General Yasunori Morishita told reporters.  

Members of the Japanese Self-Defence Force (SDF) are seen around the shooting range, in which a teenage member of SDF was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a shooting incident, in Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan June 14, 2023, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERS

The three instructors, which public broadcaster NHK said included a man in his 50s and two in their 20s, were taken to hospital where two died, Morishita said.

The alleged shooter, who is in police custody, joined the GSDF in April, he added.

"We will investigate the cause of the incident to ensure that it doesn't happen again," Morishita said at a media briefing.

Shootings are extremely rare in Japan, where gun ownership is tightly regulated, and anyone seeking to own a gun must go through rigorous background checks. Last year there were four gun deaths in Japan, according to the National Police Agency.

Among them was former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot and killed with a homemade gun in July. The suspect, who has yet to be tried, had previously been a member of the Maritime SDF.

The SDF deaths on Wednesday come after a military helicopter crashed with 10 crew members on board in the sea off an island in the southern prefecture of Okinawa in April.

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama, Tim Kelly, and Rocky Swift; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim, Christian Schmollinger and Michael Perry)

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