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Tokyo riot police officer dies after apparently shooting himself

23 Comments

A 25-year-old riot police officer from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department died after apparently shooting himself on a street on Wednesday.

According to police, Toshiya Tamura shot himself with his own handgun at around 3:30 a.m. in Chiyoda Ward, Fuji TV reported. He had been on guard duty near the headquarters of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) and was walking back to his car after his shift ended when he is believed to have shot himself.

A passerby reported that an officer was lying near a park, bleeding from a head wound. Tamura was taken to hospital where he died at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday night. Police said he had died from a single bullet wound to his head.

Police said there was no suicide note and are investigating whether he had any issues leading that might have led to his suicide.

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23 Comments
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....and was walking back to his car after his shift ended when he is believed to have shot himself.

This makes no sense at all. There is much more to this story that is not being reported. There are no details. Why would someone work the entire shift, then at the end of the shift, decided to shoot one-self in the head? Am I way off base here? Did someone take his gun and shoot him? Was something going on after work that he did not want to go back to?

-4 ( +8 / -12 )

He ended his shift to cause less trouble 迷惑 for his group.

Not a new phenomenon, J cop suicide.

Bullying?

9 ( +10 / -1 )

I work in Criminal Forensics

This makes no sense and it seems like a lazy attempt to wrap up the case without properly looking into different scenarios. An ambush from the back where the attacker(s) pulled out his gun from behind him? This was not a suicide. I highly doubt he would plan to commit suicide "after work"! If someone wanted to commit suicide, they just do it.

"Meh, I'll commit suicide after work!" said nobody.

0 ( +10 / -10 )

Some of my co-workers also doubt this and we're trying to get to the bottom of this ourselves because it makes no sense.

1 ( +8 / -7 )

Nice work detective Michael Machida, you take the info given and have solved the case even though you don't know the whole story. You should be a police officer!

0 ( +8 / -8 )

Japanese police investigating themselves; good luck with that. To parrot their claim that he committed suicide after work without any further digging merely confirms what we already know about the lack of investigative reporting instincts here. Assuming it’s not a hit job, the most likely scenario is that his ‘issues’ were known already and it’s most likely another case of the institutional bully hammering the reluctant nail into oblivion, followed by the nothing to see here, move along rinse and repeat whitewash.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Time to start a movement about police on police brutality.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Police said

and the story immediately loses creditability.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Japanese cops usually commit suicide in toilets.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

sir_bentley28, Michael Machida

Did you consider the possibility that there was something already ongoing at his workplace, and what happened during his last shift is the event that broke the camel's back, and he decided to go through with it?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

japanese cops dont shoot themesilves on the street. They shoot themselves in the terlit.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Police said there was no suicide note and are investigating whether he had any issues leading that might have led to his suicide.

Gallows humour, maybe, but I always grimace at these sorts of statements. Reminds me of a story where the mutilated remains of a Chinese woman were discovered in a suitcase; the article said that the police are "investigating whether there was any foul play".

4 ( +6 / -2 )

In addition to waiting until after his shift, another glaring bit of illogic is that he chose to commit suicide while walking back to his car. Wouldn't someone choosing to commit suicide have waited until they were seated inside their car?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

hmm....sure he wasn't murdered with his own gun?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

No statement from the fellow officer who relieved him.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I agree this does not have the footprint of a suicide!?

1- He would not wait till the end of his shift. #2 he would leave a note like most others do. #3 he is a police officer guarding a highly sensitive area, someone may want him dead because of what he saw. 4- Investigate the investigators 5- he was murdered.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@sir_bentley28, are you sure you're a cop?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Further to everything else, it doesn't make sense to say he was walking "to" his car, unless he suddenly decided to commit suicide there and then. If he'd intended to commit suicide after work, it means he went to a certain location to commit suicide which obviously would have been somewhere between work and his car, but he wasn't walking "to" his car if he'd decided to kill himself.

Just adds to the suspicion/confusion.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Why would someone work the entire shift, then at the end of the shift, decided to shoot one-self in the head? 

Clearly you're not married. Case closed.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Stress from work, bullying by his bosses, threatened by the far right in Japan for guarding a pro North Korean organization, mental health issues, etc many things can cause him to shoot himself.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Among the very first things they would have done would be to question the fellow officer/s who has the next shift and relieved him.

It was deliberately not included.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Oldman_13

I never said I'm nor was a cop. I work as a Criminal Forensics Specialist.

Did you consider the possibility that there was something already ongoing at his workplace, and what happened during his last shift is the event that broke the camel's back, and he decided to go through with it?

What they didn't tell you in this report and what I ACTUALLY know about this case (through paperwork acquired yesterday evening) leads my division to know what really happened.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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