Reports: Japanese man goes on rampage, killing a police officer and taking wife hostage

TOKYO -- A man went on a shooting rampage in his central Japan home Thursday, killing a policeman, wounding three other people -- including his son and daughter -- and taking his wife hostage, news reports and police said.

Hundreds of police surrounded 50-year-old Hisato Obayashi's tree-shrouded house in a tense standoff in Nagakute city overnight and into this morning. One news report said Obayashi was a former mobster.

As the violence in the suburb of Nagoya erupted, an unidentified emergency caller to police cried, "My father has gone berserk with a gun!" Kyodo News agency reported.

The shooting was the latest in a series of unusually violent attacks in Japan, a country known for its low crime rates and tight gun laws. Last month, the mayor of Nagasaki was shot and killed, a crime police said a mobster admitted to.

The sequence of events was still unclear, but Obayashi appeared to have taken his wife hostage, shot his children and then shot at police responding to the emergency call. The wounded received medical treatment.

Several people were heard arguing outside the suspect's house late Thursday afternoon followed by the sound of five or six gunshots, national daily Asahi said in its Friday morning edition, quoting a male worker near the scene.

Police confirmed that police officer Kazuho Hayashi, 23, was shot and killed while trying to evacuate a wounded policeman. Hayashi was a member of a special assault team handling hijacking and hostage crises, according to Kyodo.

Officials said two other people, Kento Obayashi, 25, and Risa Obayashi, 21 had been shot and wounded. News reports said that Kento and Risa were the gunman's children, but police would not confirm that.

Police said that as of Friday morning, they had not fired a shot in return, and had cordoned off the residential area surrounding Obayashi's home.

"The suspect is still holding his hostage," said a police official who spoke on condition he only be identified by his last name, Yamaguchi. News reports said the hostage was Obayashi's wife, but police could not confirm that.

Public broadcaster NHK reported that Obayashi had once been a gangster. Kyodo said Obayashi was demanding to be put in contact with his daughter. It was unclear if he was referring to the one who was shot or whether he had a second daughter.

The incident comes just a month after the mayor of Nagasaki was fatally shot in an attack by officials have blamed on an organized crime chief, and a gangster attack that took place in the streets of a Tokyo suburb only a few days later.

The use of guns is still relatively alien to the Japanese public. Handguns are strictly banned, and only police officers and others professionals such as shooting instructors can own them. Hunting rifles are also strictly licensed and regulated.