Japan Court Hands Death Penalty to Man Who Killed Four in Rare Gun-and-Knife Rampage

A Japanese court has sentenced Masanori Aoki, 34, to death for killing four people in a 2023 attack that shocked a country where shootings are exceedingly rare.

The Nagano District Court on October 14, 2025 (JST) found Aoki fully criminally responsible for fatally stabbing two female neighbours and shooting two responding police officers with a hunting rifle in Nakano, Nagano Prefecture, before barricading himself inside his family home during a standoff.

Prosecutors had sought the maximum penalty; the defence argued diminished capacity, which the court rejected. The ruling follows a high-profile trial that examined Aoki’s mental state and his possession of a valid firearm permit under Japan’s stringent gun-control regime.

The attack unfolded on May 25–26, 2023, when a witness reported a woman being chased and stabbed; arriving officers were then shot at close range.

The suspect holed up for roughly 12 hours in a residence linked to his family before surrendering. The officers killed were later identified by local media, and one of the women died after hours of being unreachable at the scene amid the siege.

With Tuesday’s verdict, Aoki is expected to appeal to a higher court, a common next step in Japanese capital cases. Japan retains the death penalty by hanging, and while executions are infrequent, courts continue to impose death sentences in cases deemed exceptionally grave.

Sources: The Japan Times; Mainichi Shimbun (English); France 24; Washington Post, BBC News