Two soldiers were killed and one wounded in a shooting incident at a Japanese Army firing range in central Japan on Wednesday. The tragedy is presumed to have been caused by a new recruit who was arrested. The Ground Self-Defense Force issued a statement indicating that during a live-fire training exercise, the applicant shot three people. Two soldiers were later confirmed dead.
The alleged assailant is an 18-year-old conscript who joined the army in April, according to Ground Self-Defense Force commander Yasunori Morishita. The general said this tragedy is unacceptable for an organization that is responsible for handling weapons and takes the matter seriously. The three victims were in charge of teaching new recruits to shoot, including the alleged assailant, who was checked out and arrested at the scene by other military personnel.
A police spokesman, who preferred not to be identified, told AFP that the suspect intentionally shot the victim with the intent to kill, using a rifle. According to NHK national television, the injured man is a man in his fifties, while the two deceased were young men in their twenties. Aerial images broadcast by the media showed military and civilians gathered around a military vehicle while police closed nearby roads.
The shooting range where the incident occurred is a covered space of more than 65,000 square meters administered by the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
Violent crime is extremely rare in Japan due to its strict gun control legislation. General Morishita mentioned that the last incident of gun violence provoked by a member of the Ground Self-Defense Force occurred in 1984. However, the past year has seen several high-profile incidents in the country, such as the shooting death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during an election rally in July 2022. In April, the current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, survived unharmed after an individual threw an explosive device during another campaign event. These incidents have prompted calls to tighten security in the country. Last month, police arrested a man accused of killing four people, including two officers, in a knife and gun attack in Nagano, west of Tokyo.