Recruit fatally shoots 2 SDF instructors, hurts 1 at Japan gun range

A Ground Self-Defense Force recruit shot three instructors, two of whom were killed and another seriously injured, on Wednesday during a live-fire training exercise at the force’s firing range in central Japan, the GSDF said.

The new recruit, an 18-year-old male, was arrested at the site following the incident that occurred at around 9:10 a.m. during the indoor exercise in Gifu Prefecture, according to the GSDF. He has admitted to shooting the victims with a rifle, police said.

There were no reports of civilian casualties.

The two who died were aged 52 and 25, according to the police. They and the third SDF member shot, also 25, were taken to hospital, according to local firefighters.

“As an organization that handles weapons, such things should never happen,” Gen. Yasunori Morishita, chief of staff of the GSDF, told a press conference at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo.

Read more: Kyodo News (Japan)