2 killed, 1 injured in apparent shooting at Japan's GSDF gun range
Japanese Self-Defence Force (SDF)'s shooting range, in which a teenage member of the Japanese SDF was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a shooting incident, is pictured in Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, on June 14, 2023, in this photo taken by Kyodo.
Two Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces (GSDF) members were killed and a third wounded after being shot by another member with a rifle at a GSDF shooting range on Wednesday in central Japan's prefecture of Gifu, the military said.
The GSDF said in a statement that at around 9am local time (0am GMT), during a live-bullet exercise as part of new personnel training, one Self-Defense Forces candidate fired at three personnel.
"The death of another person has been confirmed of the three who were shot at," the GSDF added later, after earlier announcing a first death and two injuries.
The male 18-year-old new GSDF recruit who fired the automatic rifle was arrested at the site for alleged attempted murder, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing investigators.
The suspect admitted to the allegations, saying there was "no denying" that he had shot the victims, said the report.
The three victims included a man in his 50s and two men in their 20s, and there were no reports of civilian casualties, it added.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno confirmed in a morning news conference that the suspect who fired the weapon has been taken into custody but said further details will be withheld due to the ongoing investigation.
