A suspected gunman barricaded himself in a post office with an unknown number of hostages on Tuesday after two people were wounded in a shooting at a hospital in central Japan.
Police said a doctor and an elderly male patient had been blasted with a firearm in the initial incident in Toda city, near Tokyo.
The male suspect, believed to be in his 50s or 70s, fled the scene on a motorcycle and barricaded himself in the Warabi post office, about a mile from Toda Chuo General Hospital.
Japanese media has aired footage of a man carrying a handgun and standing at the entrance of the building.
Video also showed police and ambulances surrounding the area.
Toda mayor Fumihito Sugawara confirmed on social media that a man “suspected of carrying a gun” had barricaded himself in the post office and warned residents not to go near the area.
Police were alerted to the incident at 1pm local time (4am GMT) and an hour later an eyewitness reported hearing what sounded like more gunfire, according to public broadcaster NHK.
The two hospital victims are conscious and their wounds are not life-threatening, police said. Kyodo News agency said the two were believed to be inside a consultation room on the first floor when they were attacked.
In a third suspicious case, police are also investigating a fire that broke out at an apartment building near the hospital in Toda just around the time of the shooting.
Gun violence is extremely rare in Japan. The country has one of the world’s lowest rates of gun crime due to its strict laws on firearms. Owners must undergo a strict exam and mental health tests.
Last year, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead in Nara city while delivering a campaign speech in an attack that shocked the nation.
