Man Arrested over Fatal Shooting in Tokyo

Jiji Press

15:14 JST, May 27, 2023

Tokyo, May 27 (Jiji Press)—Police arrested a 58-year-old man Saturday over the previous day’s fatal shooting incident in the city of Machida in Tokyo.

Makoto Sasaki, whose occupation is unknown, was arrested at a police office in Isehara, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, on suspicion of possessing a revolver in violation of the swords and firearms control law around 1 a.m. Saturday (4 p.m. Friday GMT). Sasaki, a resident of the town of Aikawa in Kanagawa, has admitted his charges, investigative sources said.

He appeared with a gun at the police office around 11:30 p.m. Friday, after the Kanagawa prefectural police received a report that someone would surrender to police over the incident in Machida.

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department, which is investigating the case, believes that the gun was used in the incident in which a man in his 50s, who was apparently linked to a gang group, was shot dead near JR Machida Station around 7:40 p.m. Friday.

The victim was apparently shot at least three times, including in the abdomen and neck, and died after escaping from a restaurant where he received the first gunshot. After the incident, two men fled the scene in a white car.

The restaurant is in a facility adjacent to the train station and many people were near the crime scene at that time. But no one else was injured in the incident.