OKAYAMA (TR) – Okayama Prefectural Police are investigating a shooting incident outside an apartment in Okayama City that left an organized crime member dead, reports NHK (May 31).
At just before 10:00 a.m., emergency services received a call about a man collapsed in a parking lot of an apartment building, located in the Toyonari area of Minami Ward.
Police arriving at the scene found Tadashi Takagi, a 55-year-old executive in the Okayama-based Ikeda-gumi, an affiliate gang of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, in an unconscious state and with wounds to his chest, according to the Sanyo Shimbun (May 31). He was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition. He was confirmed dead about one hour later.
A man working for a company in the area told NHK that he heard four blasts that sounded like gunfire. Police are investigating the case as attempted murder, and are looking into reports that a motorcycle sped away after the sounds were heard.
Last year, 13 gangs defected from within the Yamaguchi-gumi to form the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi as a rival syndicate. Since then, a number of shooting and car-ramming incidents involving the two gangs have taken place across the nation.
The incident represents the first killing in the conflict since the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi was classified as boryokudan, or a violent group, by the government in April.
