Shigeyuki Kin, a fugitive wanted for an attempted murder in 2020, was arrested by the Nagano Prefectural Police on Thursday.
Kin — who went by the name Shigeyuki Kanazawa — has been on the run since September 2020, when he is alleged to have fired a gun at a 51-year-old man in a parking lot in Miyada village, Nagano Prefecture. Kin, as well as the man who was shot, are both thought to have been senior members of Kizuna-kai, a notorious gang.
The prefectural police received a call from a witness saying they saw someone who resembled Kin. The 55-year-old was later arrested in Miyagi Prefecture on Thursday morning. The gun used during the 2020 shooting has still not been found.
He was alone at the time of the arrest and did not resist, admitting to the police that he was indeed the fugitive, NHK reported.
Kin is currently being questioned by the police.
A total of four people have been arrested for helping Kin evade arrest, but none of them have been charged, according to NHK.
The arrest comes after the death of a man believed to be longtime fugitive Satoshi Kirishima last week. Kirishima was on the run for almost 50 years after allegedly killing people in a bombing in 1974 as a member of a radical Japanese leftist group. The man died on Monday due to stomach cancer.
Kin, like Kirishima, is listed on iconic wanted posters commonly seen at police stations and in public spaces throughout Japan.
Information from Jiji added