Armed Man Held after Standoff at Post Office

Jiji Press

17:29 JST, November 1, 2023

WARABI, Saitama (Jiji Press) — A man suspected in a shooting at a hospital in Saitama Prefecture was arrested Tuesday after being holed up at a post office with two female hostages.

The man, Tsuneo Suzuki, an 86-year-old resident of the city of Toda, was detained after investigators from the prefectural police stormed into the post office around 10:20 p.m. The hostages were safe. Something like a handgun was seized at the scene.

Suzuki admitted to taking hostages, opening fire at the hospital and setting fire to his apartment, people familiar with the police investigation said.

The police received an emergency call around 1:15 p.m. reporting that gunshot-like sounds were heard at the hospital in Toda. A doctor in his 40s and a patient in his 60s were injured, but their lives are not in danger, the police said.

A man armed with a handgun fled the hospital by motorcycle to the post office in Warabi where he took two female workers in their 20s and 30s hostage. The worker in her 20s was released and the other woman later fled the scene.

There was information that gunshot-like sounds were also heard at the post office, located about 1.5 kilometers north of the hospital. A fire occurred at an apartment building in Toda where Suzuki lives.