2 Dead, 1 Hurt After New Teenage Recruit Shoots At Them In Japan's Military Range

Two dead and another injured in a shooting at a military training range in Gifu, central Japan after a new teenage recruit shot at them.

Toll In Japan Army Range Shooting Rises To 2, Teenage SDF Officer Arrested: Report

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Two soldiers died after a new military recruit shot at them and wounded a third at a training range in Japan's central Gifu city on Wednesday, the military said, as reported by AFP. The 18-year-old suspect was detained at the scene. The Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) confirmed the deaths in a statement, the report said. The accused, an SDF candidate, joined the military in April, GSDF chief of staff Yasunori Morishita was quoted as saying to reporters. 

"During a live-bullet exercise as part of new personnel training, one Self-Defense Forces candidate fired at three personnel," the GSDF said. 

"This kind of incident is absolutely unforgivable for an organisation tasked with handling weapons, and I take it very seriously," Morishita said, as quoted by AFP. 

He added that the three victims had been tasked with training new recruits, including the attacker, at the range, without further elaborating on their relations. The suspect’s identity is being withheld for now. He has been arrested and charged with the attempted murder of a 25-year-old soldier, a local police spokesman told AFP.i 

The cadet "fired a rifle at the victim with the intent to kill", the spokesman said. 

National broadcaster NHK reported the casualties were a man in his fifties and two other men in their twenties, the report added.  

AFP reported that the aerial footage broadcast by the station showed military and civilians gathered around an emergency vehicle and police blocking nearby roads. 

The training range is a covered facility of more than 65,000 square metres, AFP stated adding that gun possession is tightly controlled in Japan, where violent crime is rare. However, it added, several high-profile incidents have rattled the country over the last year. 

In July 2022, former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead while campaigning by a man who allegedly targeted him over his links to the Unification Church.