OKAYAMA (TR) – A former organized crime member who had been served an arrest warrant for extortion fatally shot himself on Wednesday inside a clinic in Okayama Prefecture after a four-hour standoff, reports Sports Nippon (July 10).
At approximately 8:50 a.m., Hyogo Prefectural Police entered a room at the Fukui Clinic in Mimasaka to question Susumu Yoshioka about the alleged collection of “protection money” from the owner of a massage parlor who had been cited earlier this year by law enforcement for violating the Anti-Prostitution Law.
“I’ll die before I’m arrested,” Yoshioka, a resident of Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, reportedly told police while retrieving a pistol a bag inside a locker. He then barricaded himself inside the room without a hostage.
Police subsequently made requests that Yoshioka surrender. At approximately 1:00 p.m., officers entered the room and the suspect shot himself in the right temple.
Officers had already arrested Hidenori Matsuzaki, a 45-year-old member of the Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group, for participation in the alleged extortion of the massage parlor.
Since May, Yoshioka had been receiving treatment for an injury to his leg, reports Sports Nippon (July 9).
The approximately 60 patients and staff members at the clinic at the time of the incident were unharmed.
