A police officer and members of Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito's campaign staff hold down Tetsuya Shiroo moments after he shot the mayor April 17. KYODO PHOTO

The shooter, Tetsuya Shiroo, 59, was arrested at the scene in front of JR Nagasaki Station.

Ito, who had worked for the abolition of nuclear arms and to help atomic-bomb victims, died of blood loss at 2:28 a.m.

Ito's predecessor was seriously injured by a gunman in 1990.

Bidding for a fourth term as Nagasaki mayor, Ito had been challenged by three candidates -- university lecturer Tomoko Maekawa, housewife Etsuko Maekawa, both of whom were independents, and former city assembly member Seiichi Yamamoto of the Japanese Communist Party.

Police raided Shiroo's home April 18 in connection with murder charges. Shiroo is an acting leader of the Suishin-kai gang, which is linked to Japan's biggest organized crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi.

At the hospital, Director Katsumi Eguchi told a news conference early in the morning, "We did our best, but were unable to sustain Ito's blood circulation and his heart stopped."

At 7:52 p.m. Tuesday, Ito was shot twice in the back from a 1-meter range when he got off a vehicle in front of his campaign office near JR Nagasaki Station, police and his office said.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 21, 2007
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