A gang leader was shot on a street in a residential area of Chuo Ward in Fukuoka City on Saturday evening and was later pronounced dead at a hospital, Fukuoka prefectural police said. The man was identified as Yoshihisa Matsuo, 56, head of the major regional crime syndicate Dojinkai. The police are searching for two men who witnesses said fled from the scene.
They are also warning of a possible escalation in rivalry between gangster groups in the region. Dojinkai is one of the largest syndicates on the southern main island of Kyushu with around 950 members operating in Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki and Kumamoto prefectures.
The police received a call that a man had been shot at around 6:15 p.m., and an ambulance took him to the hospital. Witnesses were quoted as saying they heard three or four gunshots and two men fled the scene in a white car.
Matsuo became chairman of Dojinkai, based in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, in May last year. This appointment prompted some members to leave the syndicate to form a new group, and the two have subsequently been in conflict. Shootings and arson apparently related to the rivalry have since been reported.
Matsuo is believed to have been shot in the head as he got out of a car, the police said.