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Shots fired as Wakayama cops attempt to apprehend shooting suspect

Police in Wakayama City are engaged in a standoff with shooting suspect Yasuhide Mizobata
Police in Wakayama City are engaged in a standoff with shooting suspect Yasuhide Mizobata

WAKAYAMA (TR) – A 45-year-old man wanted in a fatal shooting at a construction firm in Wakayama City earlier this week evaded capture by police on Tuesday evening and is currently engaged in a standoff, reports NHK (Aug. 31).

Yasuhide Mizobata has barricaded himself inside a building with two guns not far from the office of Wadai Kogyo, where he is alleged to have shot and killed one person and injured three others on Monday morning.

At approximately 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, a former employee of the firm telephoned police to say that Mizobata had been seen on a bicycle. The suspect then fired four rounds at officers arriving at the location, shattering a glass window of a squad car. He then fled the scene on foot.

At around 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday, the suspect was found again on the second floor of a nearby apartment building. He then fired a single round at police.

The surround neighborhood has been sealed off, and police are attempting to coax him into surrendering.

There have been no reports of injuries in the latest shootings. The suspect does not have any hostages with him.

Mizohata is believed to have been the gunman who opened fire inside the office of Wadai Kogyo just before 9:00 a.m. on Monday. Emergency personnel arriving at the scene found four employees of the firm, aged between 43 and 46, collapsed and bleeding with variety of injuries, including wounds to the abdomen. Junsuke Ishiyama, 45, was later confirmed dead at a nearby hospital.

After the shooting, the gunman fled the scene. Police subsequently placed Mizohata on a nationwide wanted list. He is wanted on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.