Japan: Cadet shoots dead two instructors at military firing range

Two Japanese soldiers were killed and another injured after a new recruit opened fire at a military training range in central Japan, officials say.

An 18-year-old trainee was detained on the spot and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said.

They allege the male shooter fired eight times at instructors during a shooting drill in Gifu on Wednesday.

A 25-year-old man was among those killed, authorities said.

Details about the other victims, in their 20s and 50s, are not yet known. But they were all instructors at the facility.

No civilians were involved, Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force said.

They said the shooting had occurred during a live-fire training for new members and potential candidates. The suspect had joined the force in April.

Several soldiers were seen hugging each other and crying outside the range after the shooting, a resident told local media.

The resident added that he had never seen a similar incident in his decades of living in the area.

Live-fire and explosive training drills were suspended across the country after attack, said the chief of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces.