Four dead including police officers after rare knife and gun rampage in Japan

Police have arrested a man after a rare shooting and stabbing rampage left four people dead in Japan.

The alleged killer stabbed a woman before shooting police officers with a hunting rifle. Later it emerged that a fourth victim had been killed - an elderly woman - however it was not instantly clear how she died.

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.

According to Kyodo News, the witness asked him: “Why would you do such a thing?” with the perpetrator replying: I killed her because I wanted to."