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Yakuza involvement suspected in Kitakyushu stabbing

Two assailants stabbed a male dentist in Kitakyushu City on Monday (Twitter)
FUKUOKA (TR) – Fukuoka Prefectural Police suspect organized crime involvement in the stabbing of a male dentist commuting to work in Kitakyushu City on Monday morning, reports the Nishi Nippon Shimbun (May 26).

At approximately 8:30 a.m., two assailants dressed in black slashed at the man, 28, just after he got out of his car in a parking lot in Kita Ward. A taxi driver found the man and phoned emergency services.

The victim received serious wounds to at least two locations on his legs but managed to maintain consciousness while being transported to a nearby hospital.

After the attack, an eyewitness saw the two assailants departing the scene by motorbike.

The victim is employed at a dental college. He regularly commutes to work by using the same parking lot in which the stabbing occurred. Police believe the attack was premeditated, and have launched an investigation.

Police are treating the case as being related to a series of other attacks either known to have been or likely perpetrated by an organized crime group.

In February of 1998, the stabbing victim’s great uncle, then aged 70, was shot and killed by two members of the Kudo-kai organized crime group.

Last December, Tadayoshi Ueno, a 70-year-old a fishery cooperative president, was shot dead near his residence in Wakamatsu Ward. He was the victim’s grandfather.

Two months ago, a prefectural police investigator warned the dentist about a possible attack, a boss of the victim told the newspaper. Yet no precautions on the part of the police were taken to ensure his safety.