A masked man brandishing a hunting rifle and a knife is now at large after killing two cops during a rampage in Japan.
Police in Nakano City have urged locals to remain vigilant as they try to hunt down the unidentified suspect who stormed the building in Ebe, Nakano, a suburb of the capital, Tokyo.
Initial reports say the gun and knifeman shot outside the complex, but how many times is currently unknown. He was described as wearing a camouflage outfit, a hat, mask and sunglasses.
He is said to have holed himself up inside the building in what local police have described as an ongoing hostage situation.
He has used some kind of object to barricade himself inside.
Two police officers died and a third victim is currently in hospital. One of the victims was said to have been in critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Neighbours and workers in the area have been urged to stay out of the building.
The alarm was raised by a pedestrian who witnessed the attack and contacted the police.
One local worker said: "There was a disaster prevention radio broadcast saying, 'Do not go outside because there is a shotgun shooting incident'.
"I heard the sounds of ambulances and police cars".
The Gakunan Fire Department said there was a report of one person being stabbed at around 4.30pm local time (07.30am).
Three people are thought to have been injured during the incident, and no one is thought to have been killed as yet.
Nakano City officials said the gunman is still on the run. On the same road there is a number of a residential addresses, restaurants, and a nursery.
Three ambulances are said to be on the scene.
Last year, Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe died after being shot twice in the chest from behind by a gunman in a horrifying assassination.
Abe, 67, was killed on Friday while giving a public speech on the campaign trail for a national election, with public broadcaster NHK saying a man armed with an apparently homemade gun opened fire at him from behind.
Two shots were heard before Abe collapsed to the ground in the attack, which his protege and current prime minister Fumio Kishida called "absolutely unforgivable".
The hospital that tried to save him said he died about five and a half hours after he was shot.
A doctor said Abe had bled to death from two deep wounds, one on the right side of his neck. He had no vital signs when he was brought in for treatment.
Police identified the suspect as Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old resident of Nara, western Japan, where the shooting took place.
He is believed to be a veteran of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, the country's equivalent of a navy.
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