Police are searching for a suspect who shot a man to death at a Starbucks in southwestern Japan

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese police are searching for a suspect who fatally shot a customer at a Starbucks in what was reportedly a gang-related crime. Police said the male victim was shot in the chest Sunday at a shopping mall in Ehime prefecture in southwestern Japan. Reports say he was in a terrace section of the Starbucks before he collapsed outside of the coffee shop. Police declined to confirm Japanese media reports that they are investigating the shooting as gang-related. Japan has strict gun control laws and its few gun-related crimes are often linked to gangsters. Homemade guns have been used or suspected in some high-profile shootings, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.