100 Friends and Family Members Attended the Wake of a Stolen Car Runaway Suspect Killed by Police Officers
At the wake held on January 17 this year, about 100 acquaintances and friends visited in turn. At the entrance of the hall, there were many photos of Ishibashi from his childhood, and everyone was sad to say goodbye. Ishibashi was good at karate, and although he had always been a bit of a rascal, he was also known as a man who loved his friends. Of course, I do not approve of what he did. There are some things he did wrong. But I honestly feel that even now I am not convinced that the shooting was really right.
An acquaintance of Kenta Ishibashi, 41, expressed his mixed feelings.
The incident occurred on January 13 this year. It began when an Osaka Prefectural Police patrol car spotted a stolen car on a street in Hirano Ward, Osaka City.
“After a 1.6-km car chase, the stolen car came to a stop at a red light. The police officer attempted to question the suspect again, but the suspect resisted violently, backing up and crashing into the police car. The two police officers got out of the patrol car and warned Ishibashi, who continued to repeatedly move back and forth, that they would shoot him if he did not stop, but he showed no sign of complying, and at around 13:20, shots were fired from both sides of the suspect’s car. Three of the five shots fired hit the suspect. The suspect Ishibashi was immediately rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He died of blood loss due to a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The two men who fired the shots were a male lieutenant (47) and a male sergeant (26) from the Yao Police Station, and immediately after the shots were fired, Ishibashi was arrested for obstruction of official business,” said an Osaka Prefectural Police official.
On the following day, the 14th, the prefectural police announced that the deceased was Ishibashi, whose residence and occupation were unknown.
At the time, Ishibashi was wanted on suspicion of dumping a stolen car, allegedly used by a group of thieves, in Osaka Bay. Last September, he was arrested for attempted murder in Hyogo Prefecture, but was released on the grounds that Ishibashi had terminal cancer.
The aforementioned acquaintance also testified, “It was cancer of the lymphatic system.”
“I had heard that he was not in good health. Ishibashi, of course, was at fault for not responding to a question about his duties and letting his car run out of control. However, I would like to see a proper investigation as to whether the shooting really took place according to the correct procedure. That should be his memorial service.”
The use of handguns by police officers is regulated in detail by the “Code of Use and Handling of Handguns by Police Officers and Other Personnel. The basic firing procedures are “draw, ready, warning, warning shot, and fire.” However, if the situation is urgent and there is no time for a “warning shot,” it is not always necessary. A prefectural police official said, “At the present, the police officers are not aware of the need for a warning or warning shot.”
In this case, the shots were fired from two directions, from the driver’s side and from the passenger’s side, but Article 9 of the Code of Conduct for the Handling of Handguns states that ‘when firing shots, you should take the appropriate division of roles. Which of the two officers made the decision to shift from “warning” to “firing” and to fire from both sides? The Osaka Prefectural Police will be examining this issue.
The Osaka Prefectural Police have announced that they will investigate the situation at the time in detail to see if there were any problems with the response. The results of the investigation will be closely watched, as it is rare for a suspect to be killed by a police officer’s gunfire, even nationwide.
