Japanese Man shoots children, takes woman hostage
Pastor Dale Morgan
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*Japanese Man shoots children, takes woman hostage*
May 18, 2007 11:21am
Article from: Agence France-Presse
A MAN has killed a police officer and shot three others, including his
two children, in central Japan before taking a hostage believed to be
his wife.
Police identified the attacker as former gangster Hisato Obayashi, 50,
who opened fire in a residential area, Kyodo news agency said.
He is a former member of the country's largest crime syndicate
Yamaguchi-gumi, and the shootings are the latest in a recent spate of
gun crimes in Japan.
A riot police officer was severely injured after being shot in the neck,
the report said, and was forced to lie where he fell for up to three
hours as Obayashi threatened to fire more shots.
He later died in hospital.
Another police officer was also shot.
Obayashi's son and daughter were taken to hospital with bullet wounds,
Jiji Press reported.
Kyodo said their injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.
"The suspect then took a woman hostage. It is still unknown if the woman
was also wounded,'' said a police spokesman in Kagakute, some 270
kilometres west of Tokyo.
Local media said the woman was his wife.
Japan has one of the world's lowest crime rates, but has recently seen a
series of shootings that have shocked the public.
Exactly a month ago, a mobster shot dead the mayor of Nagasaki after an
apparent dispute over a traffic accident.