TOKYO (Reuters) - A 31-year-old man was arrested Friday in a rural area on suspicion of murder, NHK reported, following the deaths of four people in a rare shooting and stabbing incident in the country that included a 12-hour standoff with police.

The authority said the suspect, the son of the head of the Nakano City Council in Nagano Prefecture, hid in his father's house after apparently shooting two policemen responding to a report that a woman had been stabbed.

Media reported that the two policemen and the woman were taken to hospital and pronounced dead within hours.

Another elderly woman also died, apparently after an attack. The media said that she had been lying on the ground outside the house since Thursday afternoon and that the police had not been able to reach her.

The Radio and Television Corporation reported that the suspect was wearing camouflage clothing and was said to have apparently used a hunting rifle in the shooting.

Media reported that police detained the man at around 4:30 a.m. local time on Friday, about 12 hours after the emergency services first received a call.

He was arrested on suspicion of killing a policeman, the NHK said. Shootings are extremely rare in Japan, where gun ownership is strictly regulated and anyone seeking to own a gun must undergo strict scrutiny. The Radio and Television Corporation stated that the suspect had a license for a hunting rifle, and the motive behind the incident was not yet known.