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Yakuza shooting: Bulletproof vest found near abandoned getaway car

An upper-level member of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi was shot and killed in Nagoya on July 15
An upper-level member of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi was shot and killed in Nagoya on July 15

AICHI (TR) – Aichi Prefectural Police have revealed that a bulletproof vest may have been used in the shooting death of an organized crime member in Nagoya earlier this month, reports the Sankei Shimbun (July 22).

According to investigative sources, a bulletproof vest was found at a coffee shop not far from the parking lot where a silver sedan was set on fire on the afternoon of July 15.

The vehicle had been used by two assailants to flee the scene after they entered a fourth-floor residence of a building in the Shinsakae area of Naka Ward and shot Tatsuo Saiki, a 64-year-old upper-level member of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, in the head and chest.

Saiki was confirmed dead about one and a half hours later after being transported to a nearby hospital.

About 20 minutes after the incident, the sedan was found on fire in the parking lot of a shrine located about two kilometers from the residence. Police believe that the suspects poured flammable liquid inside the vehicle before setting it ablaze in an effort to conceal evidence.

Security camera footage showed two persons at the coffee shop. The vest was discovered after they departed. Police have not yet been able to confirm whether the persons at the coffee shop are the same persons suspected in the incident.

Police had previously found a gasoline can in the same area.

The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi formed last summer following the dissolution of the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi. Police suspect that the shooting incident is connected to the split.