Tokyo cops arrest ex-yakuza in Koiwa shooting

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested a former gang member for a shooting incident inside a coffee shop in the Nishi Koiwa district of Edogawa Ward last month, reports public broadcaster NHK (Sept. 17).

Officers arrested a 42-year-old Cambodian national, a former member of the Yamaguchi-gumi, for possessing an automatic pistol and two bullets used to shoot a gang member on August 21.

At approximately 11:30 a.m., an employee at the shop called emergency personnel to report hearing two gunshots after a quarrel erupted among five customers, all of whom were believed to be gang members.

Police arriving at the scene, inside a business district near JR Koiwa Station, discovered two shell casings and three bloodstains. Witnesses indicated that four of the participants departed by a car while the final member escaped on foot.

Police used eye witness accounts and surveillance camera footage to confirm the suspect’s participation in the crime.

The suspect, who has been charged with violating the Swords and Firearms Control Law, has refused to comment on the allegations.