Hostage dies after 11-hour standoff in Saitama

INA-  sources

A hostage was confirmed dead and an a gun-wielding suspect was arrested on Friday following an 11-hour standoff in Fujimino, Saitama Prefecture.
 
Police stormed a house in a residential neighborhood at around 8 a.m Friday and arrested Hiroshi Watanabe, 66, on suspicion of attempted murder. A shotgun was found inside the house.
 
Junichi Suzuki, a 44-year-old male doctor who had been taken hostage, was killed after being shot, police said. Suzuki was among three medical workers who had visited the suspect’s house. A second victim was said to be in critical condition.
 
Police first responded following an emergency call received at about 9:15 p.m. Thursday saying that a bleeding person was found lying near the house after gunshots were heard.
 
According to police and fire authorities, a 41-year-old man who had been shot in the chest and stomach was found lying near the entrance of the house and was then taken to a hospital. The man, a physical therapist, was conscious at the time, but authorities later said he is in critical condition. A 32-year-old man, who had rushed to a a nearby police station and said his face had been sprayed with something like pepper spray, was also taken to a hospital.
 
The suspect spoke to police by phone during the incident but did not make any demands, investigative sources said.
 
Police secure the area near a house where an armed man took a hostage in Fujimino, Saitama Prefecture, on Thursday. | KYODO
Police secure the area near a house where an armed man took a hostage in Fujimino, Saitama Prefecture, on Thursday.
| KYODO
The three medical workers were in charge of home medical care for Watanabe’s mother, who died recently, and were visiting the house at his request, investigative sources said.
 
The doctor was known as a pioneer of home-visit medical care in the area, according to a health care manager who works in the city.
 
According to a 91-year-old man who lives nearby, Watanabe moved into the house with his mother a few years ago and told the man that he would be unable to associate with neighbors since he was taking care of his bedridden mother.
 
With the standoff continuing into Friday morning, local authorities had evacuated some 110 local residents living within a 300-meter radius of the house, and nearby elementary and junior high schools were closed for the day. The house is about 2 kilometers from Fujimino Station on the Tobu Railway Co. Tojo Line. Police closed roads near the man’s home while news reporters gathered around the area.
 
A 19-year-old university student living nearby heard a loud bang while at home on Thursday night. After being informed of the incident by a police officer, he hurried to a nearby elementary school designated as an evacuation site and then headed to another site further away at a junior high school. “I was scared. I wanted to leave the area quickly.”