HYOGO (TR) – Hyogo Prefectural Police have issued two photographs showing a gang member suspected in a shooting incident in Kobe earlier this year that left a bodyguard of a rival syndicate dead, reports the Kobe Shimbun (Nov. 14).
The two photographs of Tatsumi Hishikawa, a 41-year-old member of the Yamaken-gumi, the key subordinate gang of the Kobe Yamaguchi-Yumi, include portraits showing his face and full body, both of which were taken within the last year.
At just past 10:00 a.m. on September 12, a vehicle containing Yuhiro Kusumoto, a 44-year-old bodyguard in the Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi, was ambushed by a gunman on a road in Nagata Ward.
Kusumoto, a bodyguard for top boss Yoshinori Oda, was struck by at least one bullet in the head. He was later confirmed dead about hour later at a nearby hospital.
An examination of security camera footage showed a suspicious person near the convoy of vehicles at the time of the shooting. The alleged shooter fled the scene after the incident.
Police later placed Hishikawa on a nationwide wanted list on suspicion of murder.
As well, police have confirmed that one of two pistols found inside a bag left along a footpath near a bus stop in Kobe’s Kita Ward on September 16 were used in shooting. The path is located about 10 kilometers from the road where the shooting took place.
