One Soldier Killed and Two Others Injured in Shooting at the Japanese Military Shooting Range, Suspect Candidate Member of the SDF

JAKARTA - A member of the Japanese Self Defense Forces (SDF) was killed and two others injured in a shooting incident in Gifu City, central Japan. An aspiring SDF member in his teens has been arrested for allegedly firing an automatic rifle.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu told a daily news briefing he was aware of a shooting at the Ground Self-Defense Force's (GSDF) Hino Basic Shooting Range facility in Gifu City.

Matsuno said he was told the suspect in the rifle shooting had been detained, citing NHK June 14, adding he refrained from commenting further as the incident was being investigated.

Quoting the Japan Times, the SDF said in a statement that the incident occurred around a training session for new members of the GSDF. The three victims were a man in his 50s and two men in their 20s.

The incident location is several kilometers northeast of JR Gifu Station, as reported by Kyodo News. There were no reports of civilian casualties in the incident.

Meanwhile, police in Gifu Prefecture said they arrested an 18-year-old male Self-Defense Force recruit on suspicion of attempted murder.

They allege he fired a gun at an SDF facility shortly after 9 a.m. on Wednesday.