KITAKYUSHU (TR) – Fukuoka Prefectural Police suspect organized crime involvement in the shooting death of a fishery cooperative president early Friday morning, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Dec. 20).
At approximately 8:00 a.m., a pistol-wielding assailant shot Tadayoshi Ueno, 70, in the street near his residence in the Hatakeda district of Wakamatsu Ward.
The victim, who was taking out the trash, received wounds to his chest and an arm. He was confirmed dead about two hours later at a local hospital.
Twenty minutes before, the victim left his residence to take out the trash. Residents later heard the sound of gunshots. A female pedestrian found the victim and phoned emergency services. A car was seen fleeing the area, according to public broadcaster NHK (Dec. 20).
Police believe an organized crime group is behind the attack and have launched a murder investigation.
In February of 1998, Ueno’s older brother, then aged 70, was shot and killed by two members of the Kudo-kai organized crime group.
Ueno took over as president of the cooperative in April of 2007.