“Four Policemen Murdered in Nagano, Japan: Motive and Suspect Details Uncovered”

2023-05-27 07:57:57

[New Tang Dynasty, Beijing time, May 27, 2023]Four murders occurred in Nakano City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan on the 25th of this month. The 31-year-old Aoki Masanori was suspected of killing four policemen and others with a knife and a shotgun within about 12 minutes. It is currently known that the motive for the murder may be related to his belief that two women spoke ill of him and fear of the police shooting.

Japan’s “Mainichi Shimbun” reported that relevant persons involved in the investigation revealed that the suspect claimed that the motive for the killing of the two women who might have been killed first was “I think they spoke ill of me.”

The Nagano Police Search Headquarters judged that the suspect may have suddenly committed the murder with a strong intention to kill, and will conduct judicial autopsies as soon as possible to find out the cause of death of the four people. The search headquarters will transfer the suspect to the Nagano District Public Prosecutor’s Office for investigation this afternoon.

Relevant persons involved in the investigation said that the suspect confessed that “I thought they would shoot, so I shot.” The search department is carefully investigating the suspect’s motive and detailed process.

Fuji News Network reported that the suspect had a shotgun license; a friend of the suspect’s father also said that he had heard that the suspect often went to the shooting range to practice “flying saucer shooting”, so he should be a person who is accustomed to using firearms.

It is understood that the suspect is 31-year-old Masamichi Aoki, the eldest son of Masamichi Aoki, the local parliament speaker. Masamichi Aoki resigned on the 26th.

The incident happened at around 4:25 pm on the 25th. The search headquarters stated that the two dead were 66-year-old Yukie Murakami and 70-year-old Yasuko Takeuchi. Both had stab wounds and were judged to have been killed by the suspect with a knife. According to the friend of the deceased, the two often walked together after 4 pm every day.

At around 4:37 p.m. on the same day, the 46-year-old Nakano Police Department of the Nagano Police Department who arrived at the scene after receiving a report and the 61-year-old inspection chief Takuo Ikeuchi were attacked by suspects and were confirmed dead shortly after. It is understood that the police were initially reported as a knife attack, and the two dead policemen were not wearing body armor.

Residents nearby who witnessed the incident said that the two police officers who died were shot suddenly through the window of the police car.

In the early morning of May 26, 2023, in the Ebe district of Nakano City, Nagano Prefecture, a suspect believed to be in his 30s was hidden in a building while police patrolled the scene. (STR/JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images)

After committing the crime, the murderer Aoki Zhengxian fled to his father’s house to avoid a stalemate with the police. At the request of the Nagano prefectural police, the Metropolitan Police Department and the Kanagawa prefectural police dispatched special forces for support, and finally arrested the suspect at around 4:30 in the morning. About 12 hours have passed since the incident.

Incident

Central News Agency reported that the incident occurred in a rural residence about 2 kilometers west of Nakano Station. It is usually quiet and peaceful, but this day there were constant sirens of ambulances and police cars, and occasional gunshots caused a commotion. The police listed the 300-meter radius of the incident as an area requiring refuge, and about 60 residents went to a nearby middle school for refuge.

The suspect, Masanori Aoki, was wearing a camouflage uniform, a camouflage-patterned hat, sunglasses and a mask when committing the crime. After chasing down and stabbing Yukie Murakami with a knife, he once returned to his residence.

A 63-year-old witness rushed to give Murakami first aid. He said that he was working in a nearby field at the time, and at around 4:20 p.m., he heard someone yelling, “Someone has been stabbed, come quickly.” When he arrived at the scene, he saw a woman lying on the ground covered in blood. He used his mobile phone to contact emergency personnel, and under the instructions of the other party, he desperately massaged the woman’s heart.

Witnesses said that while he was still massaging the victim’s heart, he saw Masanori Aoki standing 10 meters away, holding a shotgun and a hunting knife on his waist. The gun is a shotgun generally used for deer hunting, and the hunting knife has a blade length of about 30 centimeters.

The witnesses didn’t know that Aoki was the suspect, and wanted to call him for help, but before he could speak, a police car arrived at the scene. Aoki Masanori held a shotgun and walked towards the driver’s seat of the police car.

The rescuers who were at the scene yelled, “Run away!” and everyone scattered and fled. Witnesses said that he then heard two “bang!” gunshots from behind, looked back and found Aoki was smiling, and his attitude seemed to be very enjoyable.

Witnesses said that after killing the patrolman, Aoki walked in the opposite direction without any haste and without panic. The scene was really horrific. At this moment, he saw the chairman Masamichi Aoki who seemed to be returning home from get off work. He did not enter his own house, but was standing in the distance to observe the situation.

Masamichi Aoki was elected for the first time in 2014, and he will be re-elected for the third time in 2022 and serve as speaker. According to related sources, Masamichi Aoki’s father is a director of the Agricultural Cooperative, and he himself also runs orchards and pesticide-related companies, which are quite successful. He has 3 children, Aoki Zhengxian is the eldest son.

According to related sources, the Aoki family is a prominent local family, and there are many people surnamed Aoki nearby who are their relatives or collaterals. However, Masanori Aoki was not good at communicating with people since he was a child, so it was a little embarrassing to be the heir of the main family. In contrast, his younger sister has a lively personality and has married and started a family after graduating from university. His younger brother, who is 5 years younger, joined the Self-Defense Force and is currently in Hokkaido.

Masanori Aoki is interested in agriculture. After graduating from a local high school, he went to a private university in Tokyo to study agriculture, but he dropped out of school and returned to his hometown because of interpersonal relationships. It is said that he had mental problems during this period. After returning to his hometown, he was still quite withdrawn. Relevant sources said that he had never seen him participate in local activities, nor had he seen him go out to dinner or attend parties with friends.

(Editor in charge: Lu Yongxin)

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