Suspect arrested after shooting and stabbing attack in Japan leaves three dead

The suspect in a shooting and stabbing incident that left three people dead in central Japan is now in police custody, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, citing local police early Friday.

Police in Nakano City received a call on Thursday with reports that a "man stabbed a woman," a city police official told CNN.

When officers rushed to the scene, the suspect fired something resembling a hunting rifle, striking four people, before barricading himself inside a building, the official added.

Among the casualties is a woman in her 40s, who was taken to hospital where she was subsequently pronounced dead. Two police officers have also died from their injuries, NHK reported. The officers were aged 46 and 61, according to police.

The suspect initially barricaded himself in a home belonging to Nakano City Council Chairman Masamichi Aoki, who was later revealed to be the suspect's father, NHK reported citing Nakano City police.

He was later taken into custody, NHK said.

According to NHK, a witness to the attack said that he saw a woman ran toward him, pleading for help, pursued by a masked man wearing camouflage