The 88-year-old defendant was sentenced to 24 years in prison for “shooting at police officers and locking up two women.

He said, “Aren’t you surprised at my age? He won’t live to see another day.”

The 88-year-old man insisted in a quiet voice in court against the prosecution, which had sought a longer sentence.

The Saitama District Court (presided over by Tsuneji Saeki) sentenced Tsuneo Suzuki, 88, an unemployed man accused of attempted murder, confinement, and other crimes, to 24 years in prison on June 4. Suzuki, who appeared in court in a wheelchair wearing a black jersey, quietly listened to the verdict with a downcast look on his face.

The incident occurred in October 2011. Suzuki set fire to his room in an apartment in Toda City, Saitama Prefecture. He broke into Toda Central Hospital in the same city and shot a gun at doctors and patients, causing serious injuries that took three weeks to heal. They also opened fire on police officers near a post office in Warabi City, locked up two female employees in their 20s and 30s, and holed up in the post office. About eight hours later, after 10:00 p.m., the police raided the post office and took them into custody.

Lack of Anger Control

In the courtroom, the defendant Suzuki spoke of his shocking motive for committing the crime.

It seems that he had been having trouble with the hospital and post office where the crime took place. The day before the crime, Suzuki recalled the trouble and said, ‘I couldn’t take it anymore, so I committed the crime. The defense argued that “he committed the crime because he could not control his anger,” and that “attempted murder cannot be charged because he was trying to threaten or intimidate the victim.

The prosecution, on the other hand, argued that “he was thinking of retaliating (against the hospital and the post office),” “his intent to kill was admitted,” and “his motive was selfish and there were no extenuating circumstances to justify it. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The two women who were confined also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and were unable to lead their daily lives, and they wanted to be punished severely.

Suzuki is said to have been a member of a secondary organization of a designated gang about 30 years ago. The gun he used to commit the crime may have been acquired at that time. Former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist Taihei Ogawa explains.

He is a former gang member and in his 80s, but considering the heinous nature of the crime, it is a fair sentence. He set fire to his room, shot at several people, and locked up two women for a long time. It is a wonder that no one died. I think he deserves to be sentenced to 24 years in prison.

In court, Suzuki said that he regretted his crime very much, but the presiding judge ruled that he had committed a heinous and outrageous crime and that he had only expressed token words of remorse. He was sentenced to a long prison term.