Military personnel gather at a firing range in Gifu, central Japan after a shooting incident left two dead and one injured Wednesday. Photo by Jiji Press/EPA-EFE
June 14 (UPI) — Two Japanese soldiers were killed and another was injured after being shot by a recruit at a training range Wednesday in the central prefecture of Gifu, Japan’s military said.
The shooting took place at around 9 a.m. at the Hino shooting range in Gifu, Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force said in an initial report.
“During a live-fire drill in new recruit training, one Self-Defense Force candidate fired at three personnel,” the GSDF said, later confirming that two of the victims were killed.
The 18-year-old shooter used an automatic rifle, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK. Police said he was arrested on the scene and later admitted to the shooting,
The two soldiers who died were aged 25 and 52, according to police, while the third SDF member shot was 25.
GSDF Chief of Staff Gen. Morishita Yasunori said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that a committee will be set up to investigate the shooting.
“This kind of incident should never have happened at an organization that handles weapons,” he said. “As the GSDF’s chief of staff, I take this very seriously.”
Shootings in Japan are extremely rare, as the country has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world. However, a handful of high-profile violent crimes have rattled the public since the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last July.
In April, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida escaped injury after a man threw a smoke bomb during a campaign appearance in western Japan. The incident, which took place shortly before the country hosted the Group of Seven leaders’ summit in Hiroshima, sparked renewed calls for beefed-up public security measures.
Last month, four people, including two police officers, were killed in a shooting and stabbing rampage in Nagano.