Photo/Illutration Police officers on May 30 investigate the scene where a cab driver was shot in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture. (Shun Tsunekawa)

KAWAGUCHI, Saitama Prefecture—Police are searching for a robbery suspect who shot and injured a taxi driver on the night of May 29 just north of JR Kawaguchi Station.

The 72-year-old driver, who was wounded in the stomach, was able to communicate with emergency crew, according to police.

Cash was scattered inside the taxi, and police are investigating if robbery was the sole motive behind the shooting.

The suspect boarded the taxi near JR Akabane Station in Tokyo’s Kita Ward and instructed the driver to head north to Kawaguchi’s Saiwaicho district in Saitama Prefecture.

The driver was shot after he parked the cab about 370 meters north of Kawaguchi Station.

The suspect fled the scene on foot and was last seen heading toward Kawaguchi Station.

Officers responded to an emergency call from an employee at a convenience store at 11:40 p.m. Police also received a call reporting a man punching the taxi window from inside the car.

The suspect is estimated to be in his 50s or 60s. He was wearing a black cap, glasses, black short-sleeved shirt, black pants and a white flu mask.

A 41-year-old man from the neighborhood was heading to a convenience store when he was alarmed to see that police had sealed off the area.

“There was another incident in the neighborhood a while ago,” he said. “I'm worried because I have small children.”

(This article was written by Shun Tsunekawa, Miu Yamada and Masahide Miyajima.)

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