TOKYO (AP) A Japanese fighter jet conducting training Monday on the northern island of Hokkaido mistakenly fired its machine guns, hitting a car parked nearby.
The gunfire also pierced the roof of the garage at the rehabilitation where the car was parked but did not hit a minibus as earlier reported, police spokesman Akihiro Ishikawa said.
There were no injuries. The incident was under investigation, police said.
The F-4 fighter plane was in the air when 20-mm practice machine-gun rounds were inadvertently fired, Self-Defense Forces spokeswoman Tomoko Tanaka said.
The fighter jet, which has a two-person crew, was conducting an air-to-ground firing drill at the time, and the pilot was believed to have fired at the wrong time, she said.
However, the pilot denied hitting the button to activate the machine gun, according to national television broadcaster NHK.
The firing range at Matsushima air base is one of two in Japan and is about 490 miles northeast of Tokyo.
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