This incident took place on July 29, 1965, in Shibuya, Tokyo, involving an 18-year-old boy. It's a famous case also known as the 'Boy Rifleman Incident.'
It all started at 11:00 AM on July 29, 1965, when a report came into a police station in Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture, saying 'A kid is playing with an air rifle in the woods.'
However, the report was a fake made by the 18-year-old perpetrator, Yamamoto (alias), to lure the police. He shot the first responding officer in the chest and killed him by smashing his head multiple times with the rifle butt.
He then shot one of the two following officers in the lower abdomen before fleeing. His original plan was to hijack a car from a foreigner who wouldn't recognize Japanese faces well, but the police responded too quickly, so that failed.
Instead, he disguised himself as a cop and entered a nearby house, tricking a 34-year-old man by saying, 'A criminal is on the run due to a shooting. I need to commandeer your car to chase him.' He then moved toward Machida City, Tokyo.
At 12:05 PM, contrary to his expectations, the manโbelieving he was a real copโkindly dropped him off right in front of a police box (koban).
As the man got out to ask about the shooter, the police there started aiming their guns. Word had already spread that the perp had stolen a cop's gun, pants, and police notebook.
The perp held a gun to the man's head and had a standoff for a while until he spotted another 29-year-old man in a car at an intersection. He threatened him and successfully escaped.
Using this method of carjacking three different times, he arrived in the Shibuya area around 3:30 PM.
The reason he chose Shibuya over other escape routes was to take over 'Royal Gun & Powder Shop,' a place he frequented, to restock on ammo.
Inside the shop were the 65-year-old owner, a 16-year-old male employee, a 21-year-old female employee, and her 16-year-old sister. The female clerk recognized him and said hello, but he immediately shoved a gun at her, grabbed one .45 caliber S&W pistol round from a display, and stole three rifles.
By this point, the shop was surrounded by 580 personnel, including 50 police cars, 10 armored vehicles, and 2 helicopters.
As the standoff dragged on, over 5,000 spectators gathered in the already busy Shibuya area. The crowd kept growing because subways and buses were completely shut down.
Meanwhile, the perp calmly used the hostages as human shields and kept firing warning shots.
The police underestimated his marksmanship and set the perimeter at 100m, but the crowd and police started getting hit from up to 500m away, resulting in 15 injuries. Even then, the spectators didn't run away when they heard shots; they flocked in even more. Truly the 'As long as it's not me!' spirit, right?
Meanwhile, the perp was enjoying his shooting spree while making the employees act as 'ammo shuttles.'
However, one of the male hostages hit the perp in the back of the head with a gun.
Pissed off, the perp started spraying his rifle everywhere.
And the moment he told them to reload the ammo...
He got busted.
But he still had a handgun left.
Photo right before the arrest.
He fired at a detective.
He fired six shots; five missed, but one pierced the heart.
The perp was arrested by police at 7:20 PM. 1. In 1965, an 18-year-old gun nut killed a cop, stole his gun, and fled to a gun shop in Shibuya, where he fired over 130 rounds in a shootout against 580+ police officers. 2. Police initially set a 100m perimeter but failed to account for the rifle's 500m range. Over 5,000 spectators gathered, leading to 15+ injuries. He was eventually caught by riot police who managed to bypass the shop. 3. Ended up with the death penalty. Later, a former governor claimed this incident was a 'pure action' expressing vague dissatisfaction and hatred toward the social system.
"Users are geeking out over the historical 'Shibuya Incident,' comparing it to Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man while calling the shooter the 'Japanese version' of a famous Korean spree killer (Won-jong)."
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