Ex-gangster shot by gunmen in Tokyo shopping area

A man was shot and later pronounced dead Sunday after several men opened fire on him with handguns on a street in a busy commercial district in Tokyo's Taito Ward, police said.

Rescue officials attend to a man who was shot Sunday morning on a busy street in Ameyoko shopping market in Tokyo's Taito Ward. The man, identifed by police as a former member of a gangster group affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi, died later at a nearby hospital. KYODO PHOTO

The gunmen fled the scene after the shooting at around 10:55 a.m. on a street near JR Okachimachi Station and the famous Ameyoko shopping market, the police said.

The man, who was shot in his upper body, fell into a coma and was pronounced dead afterward at a nearby hospital, the police said.

The police identified the man as 42-year-old Shinichi Nakanishi, a former member of a gangster group affiliated with the nation's largest gangster group, the Yamaguchi-gumi.

The police are searching for the gunmen, who are also believed to be members of a gangster group, on suspicion of murder.

According to police investigators, three gunshots were heard. One of the gunmen, believed to be in his 40s or 50s, was wearing jeans and a dark hat and coat when the shooting occurred.

A 33-year-old man who runs a sundry goods shop near the shooting scene said, "After hearing gunshots, I saw a man with a handgun in his right hand repeatedly kicking the buttocks of the man lying on the ground."

He also said he saw a kitchen knife with blood stains near the body of the man and that people at the scene were thrown into a commotion after the shooting.