THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
January 28, 2022 at 18:21 JST
FUJIMINO, Saitama Prefecture--A man upset over the death of his mother fatally shot a doctor he had taken hostage and injured two other health workers here, police said Jan. 28.
Hiroshi Watanabe, 66, was arrested after Saitama prefectural police stormed his house around 8 a.m. on Jan. 28 and ended the 11-hour hostage crisis. He was initially accused of attempted murder.
Junichi Suzuki, 44, died after Watanabe shot him with a shotgun, police said. A 41-year-old physical therapist was shot near his chest and injured.
The third worker, who is in his 30s, suffered injuries around his eye, but he managed to reach the Higashi-Iruma Police Station.
“We got into trouble and he used tear gas spray against me,” police quoted him as saying.
The three worked at a clinic that provides medical care to patients who cannot visit doctors for treatment. Watanabe’s mother was one of their patients.
According to investigative sources, Watanabe had asked the three to visit his home to pay respects to his deceased mother.
The city’s firefighting department received an emergency call around 9:15 p.m. on Jan. 27 from an individual who said, “A man just shot my two colleagues.”
Police talked with Watanabe over the phone during the hostage crisis.
“I am angry with them over their care,” police quoted Watanabe as saying. “I want you to save the hostage.”
Watanabe’s home is located in a residential area about 2 kilometers southwest from Fujimino Station on the Tobu Tojo Line.
Suzuki treated about 300 home care patients, or about 80 percent of such patients in the three municipalities of Fujimi, Fujimino and Miyoshi, according to the Higashi-Iruma doctors association.
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Police officers in protective gear stand near the home of a man who took a doctor hostage in Fujimino, Saitama Prefecture, on Jan. 28. (Shinnosuke Ito)
