Gunman takes post office employees hostage after injuring two others in Warabi hospital: Japan news
A tense situation is unfolding in a post office in Warabi city, Japan, where a suspected gunman has taken at least two people hostage. Reports from Reuters indicate that the gunman had previously injured two individuals in a shooting at a nearby hospital.
Japanese law enforcement has surrounded the post office, and there is a possible connection to an earlier shooting incident at a hospital in the vicinity where two people were wounded. According to the Associated Press, one post office employee is still believed to be inside the building.
Warabi is located to the north of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. The local government has issued a statement stating that an undetermined number of hostages were taken by a man who appears to be armed with something resembling a handgun.
Local media reports suggest that at least two female post office workers in their 20s and 30s have been taken hostage. One woman in her 20s exited the building and is now in police custody.
Numerous police officers have been deployed to surround the post office, with TV footage showing them wearing bulletproof vests while stationed behind patrol vehicles. The suspect, described as an older man wearing a cap and holding a gun, briefly appeared at the entrance.
Earlier on the same day, two men, a doctor in his 40s, and a patient in his 60s, were wounded by what seemed to be gunfire-like blasts outside a general hospital in Toda, just north of Tokyo. Both victims are conscious, and their injuries are not life-threatening. The possibility of a link between these two cases is being explored as the suspected gunman in the post office is believed to be in his 50s to 70s.
The situation continues to develop, with police reporting that the alleged gunman could be seen near cash machines through a glass window. Some post office staff managed to escape from the building, while it is uncertain whether two others inside were noticed by the gunman. Investigations into these incidents are ongoing.
