A 49-year-old man was shot in the chest with an apparent gun at a Starbucks outlet in a shopping mall in Shikokuchuo, Ehime Prefecture, around 4 p.m. Sunday, and was confirmed dead after being rushed to a hospital, according to local police.
The Ehime prefectural police department is searching for a middle-aged man who fled the scene of the shooting after the incident.
The Aeon Town Kawanoe shopping facility is located about 3 kilometers east of JR Iyo-Mishima Station.
A man who lives nearby said he heard a bang and thought it was a car crash.
An employee at a car dealer in the same shopping complex said he saw an ambulance coming in about five minutes after the shooting.
"This area is far from a place where this kind of thing would ever happen," he said, adding that he wanted the police to find the suspect as soon as possible.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.