Nagasaki mayor executed by Yakuza

[faceless]

Yakuza gunman told friends he was going to kill Nagasaki mayor

NAGASAKI -- The man who gunned down Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito told his friends that he was going to attack the mayor, after the municipal government excluded a yakuza-linked construction company from city-related projects, police said. Tetsuya Shiroo, 59, a senior member of the Suishin-kai -- which is affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza group -- also asked an acquaintance about places he could find the mayor, days before the shooting. Police officers investigating the case suspect that Shiroo had been looking for an opportunity to attack Mayor Ito for some time.

Shiroo had reportedly been trying to help a yakuza-linked company win government construction contracts, including a sub-contract job offered by the Nagasaki Prefectural Government for the demolition of a hospital in 2002. However, the local government refused to allow the company any involvement in its public construction projects, in a push to exclude gang-related organizations from city-related projects. (Mainichi)

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From what I've read elsewhere, this story has blown right up into a shootout with many yakuza and up to 300 police. Let's see how it goes.

[Bob]

ouch...that's pretty vicious stuff...one thing knocking them around a bit, but killing someone that high profile will raise a few eyebrows...they normally just go on long holidays never to be seen...

[eefanincan]

I had no clue what the yakuza were until reading your post, Face.... I've learned something new today.

It'll be interesting to see how this all turns out... I've a feeling we've not seen the last of it yet.

[girldorksrule]

Of all the mafias, the Yakuza are probably my favorite out of their sheer creative brutality.