
A government spokesperson confirmed that a suspect had been detained.
Tokyo:
The death count in a shooting at a Japan army training range has risen to two, the military said Wednesday, after a recruit opened fire at the facility.
“The death of another person has been confirmed of the three who were shot at,” the Ground Self-Defense Force said in a brief statement after earlier confirming a first death and two injuries.
Japan’s government initially reported three people had been hurt in the incident, but later the country’s Self-Defense Forces confirmed two of the wounded had died. “During a live-bullet exercise as part of new personnel training, one Self-Defense Forces candidate fired at three personnel,” the Ground Self-Defense Force said in a statement.
“The death of one person has been confirmed. Two were injured,” the statement added.
Earlier, government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said a suspect had been detained, but gave no further details.
Local police told AFP the shooter was an 18-year-old SDF candidate who was detained on the spot by other soldiers.
He has been charged with the attempted murder of a 25-year-old soldier, a local police spokesman said, declining to be identified.
The suspect “fired a rifle at the victim with the intent to kill,” the spokesman told AFP.
National broadcaster NHK reported the wounded were a man in his fifties and two other men in their twenties.
Aerial footage broadcast by the station showed military and civilians gathered around an emergency vehicle and police blocking nearby roads.
Some appeared to be investigators and wore covers over their shoes and hair.
A local resident told NHK he saw several emergency vehicles rushing to the area at around 9:30 am local time (0030 GMT) but had not heard anything before that.
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