CHIBA (TR) – Chiba Prefectural Police have arrested two persons over a pair of shootings in Matsudo City last month, reports NHK (July 15).
Police have accused Ryuya Matsumoto, 52, and Yoshimasa Watanabe, a 50-year-old resident of Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture, over the firing of weapons into the entrances of properties in the Midorigaoka and the Goko-nishi areas at just after 5:00 a.m. on June 30.
The suspects, who have been accused of property damage and violating the Swords and Firearms Control Law, have declined to comment on the allegations.
According to police, the suspects became persons of interest after an examination of security camera footage, according to TBS News (July 15).
Law enforcement suspects that the shootings — which are among four to take place in Matsudo since May — are the result of a gang dispute. On July 2, police received a report of shots fired at a different apartment in the Midorigaoka area.
On the evening of May 10, a gunman, who was on a motorcycle, approached a van at an intersection on National Route 6 and opened fire. A gang member, 46, in a back seat of the van was struck in the head and shoulder.
Inagawa-kai
According to a gangster quoted in a previous report, the target in the shooting on National Route 6 is an associate of the likely target in one of the shootings in June. Both gangsters are members of a gang that left from within the Inagawa-kai in January of last year.
