More gun shots in Yamanashi believed linked to yakuza battle

TOKYO (TR) – In what Yamanashi Prefectural Police believe is connected to an ongoing fight between organized crime groups, multiple gun shots were heard in a residential neighborhood in Kofu City on Wednesday evening, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (Apr. 19).

At around 11:20 p.m., a woman reported hearing discharges from a gun in the Hagurocho area. Officers later discovered multiple bullet holes in the exterior of a two-floor apartment building occupied by a member of the Yamanashi-ikka, an affiliate gang to the Inagawa-kai.

No injuries were reported.

Police are attempting to confirm whether the incident is connected to a gangland war, which has included a number of shooting incidents and possibly one suicide, between the Yamanashi-ikka and the Yamanashi Kyoyu-kai organized crime group.

“With this normally being a quiet area, this incident is of concern,” said a woman living nearby.

There have been 17 shooting incidents since last November, when an upper member of the Yamanashi Kyoyu-kai was seriously injured after being shot in the riverbed of the Arakawa River.