TOKYO • Two people, including a policeman, were killed in Japan yesterday, officials said, when a man stabbed the officer, seized his gun and shot a security guard dead.

A police spokesman told Agence France-Presse that the attacker had stabbed the officer at a police station in central Toyama prefecture, then grabbed his gun and fled the scene.

The officer, 46-year-old Kenichi Inaizumi, was confirmed dead at a hospital, the police spokesman added.

The attacker then shot and killed Mr Shinichi Nakamura, a 68-year-old security guard who was working nearby, according to local police.

Mr Nakamura was rushed to hospital but also died of his wounds.

The suspect himself was seriously injured after being shot in the stomach by police as they tried to arrest him. He was then detained.

Police said that "no other people were injured" in the attack, a relatively rare incident in Japan, which prides itself on a low crime rate.

Gun crime is especially low in Japan, where weapons are strictly regulated.

According to the latest figures from the national police agency, there were only 22 incidents of a gun being fired last year, resulting in three deaths and five injuries.

In April, a young police officer was arrested after shooting dead a colleague he said was bullying him.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE