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Japanese gunman kills one policeman, surrenders after a day-long standoff

A former gangster was taken into custody after a shooting rampage left one policeman dead and three others injured, police said yesterday. The surrender ended a tense, day-long standoff as nearly 200 police in body armor surrounded the building.

The gunman, who had holed up in his home with his ex-wife as a hostage, emerged with his hands up and was taken into custody by police in Nakagute in central Japan, prefectural police spokesman Atsushi Kabahara said.

Hisato Obayashi, 50, went on a shooting spree at his home, shooting the couple's son, daughter and two policemen. One of the officers died. He kept his ex-wife hostage for more than 24 hours as nearly 170 police in body armor and carrying shields surrounded the house.

Obayashi's wife escaped from a bathroom window hours earlier. Police said she had bruises on her face, but no other injuries.

News reports said Obayashi was a former mobster affiliated with Japan's largest crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, but his motive for the rampage was not known.

The violence in the suburb of Nagoya erupted after an unidentified emergency caller to police cried, ``My father has gone berserk with a gun!'' Kyodo News agency reported.

Police said Obayashi's wounded daughter had been cooperating with them and spoke with her father several times, urging him to surrender.

In 2005, Mori reported to police she had been abused by Obayashi, and the shooting might be related to their relationship problems, Kyodo said.

As the deadlock continued, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki yesterday morning condemned the gunman and urged government officials to step up gun control measures.

"This is a gun crime that clearly threatens the peace of public life. It is absolutely unacceptable," Shiozaki said.

Sanae Takaichi, the head of a government gun-control task force, called for "drastic, tougher gun control-measures."

Police say Obayashi took the woman hostage, shot his children -- Kento Obayashi, 25, and Risa Obayashi, 21 -- and then shot at police responding to the emergency call.

Riot police officer Kazuho Hayashi, 23, was shot in the chest and died while evacuating a policeman wounded earlier. Hayashi was a member of a special police assault team that handles hijackings and hostage crises.

An on-duty policeman was last shot to death in 2001 by a 52-year-old robber who fired a rifle inside a taxi company in Japan's northeastern Tochigi Prefecture, the National Police Agency said.

All the wounded were later hospitalized, but their conditions were not life-threatening.
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