Posted on 12/15/2007 7:35:48 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
2 killed in gym rampage / Gunman also wounds 5 in shooting at Sasebo sports club
The Yomiuri Shimbun
NAGASAKI--Two people were shot dead and five others, including two girls, were wounded by a man who opened fire with what appeared to be a shotgun at a sports gym in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Friday evening, the police said.
The man apparently opened fire as he entered the building through the main entrance on the second floor. He fired several shots into the swimming pool on the same floor, where a swimming class for primary and middle school students was being held.
The gunman was still at large as of 12:20 a.m. Saturday, and officers of Nagasaki and Saga prefectural police were trying to find the assailant. The police described the assailant as being about 180 centimeters tall and wearing camouflage fatigues, a silver down jacket and a balaclava or full-face helmet.
About 50 customers and 20 gym employees were inside the gym at the time of the rampage.
Mai Kuramoto, a 26-year-old swimming instructor at the gym, was fatally shot in the chest, the police said. She was taken to a hospital in the city but was confirmed dead about 40 minutes later.
A 36-year-old male member of the gym was shot in the abdomen and chest, and later died, the police said.
A 48-year-old gym manager was hit in the leg by a stray bullet, and a 39-year-old gym member was injured in the back. A 46-year-old man, a 9-year-old girl and a 10-year-old girl also suffered leg and other injuries. Their wounds reportedly were not life-threatening.
A 10-year-old girl who was at the gym was taken to a hospital for shock.
At about 7:15 p.m., the police received an emergency call claiming that explosions had been heard inside Renaissance Sasebo.
The gym, which occupies the second to fourth floors of the building, is in a residential area about two kilometers north of JR Sasebo Station. A supermarket is on the first floor of the building.
A man in his 30s who was near the gym's entrance at the time of the shooting said he saw a suspicious man enter the gym.
According to the witness, the man, wearing a camouflage-printed shirt and trousers, headed toward a swimming pool on the second floor. Shots rang out a few minutes later, prompting the witness to run away from the building.
"I heard many shots," a 45-year-old colleague of Kuramoto said. "Children were frantically running around to escape. She was a devoted, hard worker. I have no idea why such a thing happened."
A 46-year-old gym instructor who was on the fourth floor at the time, said: "I heard loud shots from downstairs. I was so startled and I told my students to escape."
A 9-year-old boy in the swimming pool when the assailant entered the area said: "I heard noises like gunshots, so I went into the dressing room and hid there. Someone was screaming, and I was so scared."
A couple who went to the gym to play squash with a friend saw a man walking to the poolside and firing several shots through the glass. After fleeing the building separately, the couple met up about an hour later.
"I didn't know what to do," the 28-year-old husband said. His wife said, "I was terrified."
On the third floor, more than 20 people were doing aerobics. One man said he first heard several explosions coming from the swimming pool.
"After a while, I heard three more shots. Our instructor escorted us to an emergency staircase. We were too scared to go [downstairs] to see what was going on," he said.
(Dec. 15, 2007)
Ping!
Well. This will be interesting.
But I thought guns were illegal in Japan?
Only for the law abiding citizens...the criminal are allowed to have them.
Police had searched for Magome after an investigation among the city's list of registered gun holders showed he was a registered owner of three shotguns and one air gun.According to Jiji Press, Magome had been a frequent buyer of gun pellets since four to five years ago.
"That a registered gun possessor uses his gun for this kind of motive is very regrettable," a police official said.
But yes, there is an American base in Sasebo.
Yes. I was stationed there for 11 years. My wife was looking at NHK news. This was in the neighborhood we used to live in when we lived off base although the facility must be fairly new. I don't remember a sports club/supermarket when we were there.
Sasebo also had the incident a few years ago where the elementary school girl killed her friend with a razor knife over internet harassment.
And the gunman is not at large anymore. They found him shot dead in the neighborhood where it is believed he lived, apparent suicide.
Just like it soon will be here.
You forgot the cops.
But they’ll be at Krispy Kreme and will arrive in time to draw a chalk outline of your corpse on the floor.
WHY DO THEY WANT OUR GUNS?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j73SsNFgBO4
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.