Two men were shot and seriously wounded early Wednesday during a confrontation between rival gangs in the heart of Tokyo, police said.
A passerby told police that he heard about 10 shots ring out at around 1:30 a.m. in the parking lot of Akasaka Tokyu Plaza in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, in the vicinity of the Diet building and the Prime Minister's Official Residence.
The two men were found near the parking lot with thigh and abdomen wounds and were taken to a hospital, police said, adding that they will question them once they recover.
About a dozen suspected gang members were also seen loitering around the area, police said.
Witnesses said that several men fled in cars after the shooting broke out, police said.