SHIMANE (TR) – Shimane Prefectural Police on Wednesday apprehended a 23-year-old man who began an 18-hour standoff by taking a woman hostage inside the office of a transport company in Izumo City, reports TV Asahi (Jan. 15).
At around 8:30 a.m., Kaisei Nakao, a resident of Chiba Prefecture, released the woman unharmed.
The suspect placed a knife he had in his possession on a table in the office of Ueda Cold Corp. With a black hood over his head, he was then taken to the Izumo Police Station.
The drama began at around 2:30 p.m. the day before, when Nakao entered the office with the knife and ordered employees to leave.
However, a female employe, 40, remained inside. After he confined her to a conference room on the second floor, the standoff ensued.
According to investigative sources, Nakao maintained a “grudge” against a person at the company, though the details are not known.
During the standoff, the woman, with whom he appeared to not be acquainted, was not tied up in the room. Meanwhile, Nakao stayed in a corridor.
Upon his arrest, Nakao, who was in possession of two knives, admitted to the allegations. He also confessed to robbing a post office in Chiba.
On January 7, a man fled from a post office in Ichihara City, Chiba after taking about 75,000 yen in cash during a robbery.
Ichihara is located about 840 kilometers from Izumo. Police are now investigating whether Nakao was in fact behind the robbery.
