The Japanese shooting and kidnapping suspect is a former member of the Japanese mafia

A man arrested in Japan on Tuesday accused of being responsible for a hospital shooting and taking hostages at a post office is a former member of Japanese organized crime, local media reported today.

Tsuneo Suzuki, 86, was detained on Tuesday at a post office in Warabi (Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo), where he barricaded himself for more than eight hours and detained two workers.

Suzuki entered the post office with a firearm in his hand, firing several shots, according to eyewitnesses, and was arrested by police at the same location after the two hostages managed to escape unharmed.

The suspect is believed to be a former member of a ‘yakuza’ (Japanese mafia) group, whose members are being tracked by Japanese authorities. A weapon similar to a pistol was seized during his arrest.

Authorities believe Tsuneo Suzuki was also the perpetrator of another shooting that took place an hour earlier at Toda General Hospital, 1.5 kilometers from the post office, and left a doctor and a patient injured, both not seriously.

According to the ongoing investigation, Suzuki allegedly shot at the hospital from the street and then fled on a motorcycle towards the post office, where he barricaded himself.

Asked about his motives, the suspect said he had a grudge against the postal service because he had been involved in an accident with one of that company’s vehicles and was dissatisfied with the treatment he received after the episode, state broadcaster NHK said. police sources.

Tsuneo Suzuki also confessed to being the perpetrator of the hospital shooting and setting fire to the apartment where he lived, in another incident that took place shortly before the shooting and hostage situation, NHK reported.

Authorities found several rounds of ammunition, kitchen knives, bottles of flammable liquid and a lighter in the suspect’s home.

Suzuki is suspected of the crimes of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition and extortion of hostages, among other possible crimes, and should remain in custody until formal charges are filed against him.