The Evening Star (July 19, 1946)
3 Koreans reported shot from ambush by Japanese police
TOKYO (AP) – Japanese gunfire flared in two sections of Tokyo tonight and in one incident, at least three Koreans were reported shot near Shibuya Station as they rode in trucks escorted by American military police.
No casualties were reported in the other incident.
T/4 Reuel Bennett of Indianapolis, who was uninjured although his jeep top was punctured by three bullets, said Japanese police using small caliber pistols fired on the Koreans from ambush.
Shots near police station
He said the first shots seemed to come from the porch of the police station. An MP jeep stopped and when the Americans ran around in the lights the firing ceased.
When the five-truck convoy had progressed a few hundred yards, Sgt. Bennett said, firing broke out from both sides of the road.
“I saw at least three occupants of the trucks fall off, and one of them I could see had a bullet hole in his back. The trucks speeded up and went around a curve.”
Altogether, about 200 shots were fired, Sgt. Bennett said.
Gang warfare over business
At almost the same moment, machine-gun shots were fired from the roof of a building several miles away, in the Shimbashi station area, but there was no immediate report of casualties.
Gang warfare there between Chinese and Koreans, who allegedly attempted to “move in” on Japanese stall operators, already has cost the life of one Japanese.
It was learned that several hundred persons, mostly Japanese, gathered in a schoolhouse and some set up machine guns on the roof in anticipation of an attack. One gun evidently was fired by accident, causing considerable excitement.
American military police rounded up about 150 Japanese as Shimbashi for questioning.
There was no explanation as to how the Japanese came into possession of machine guns.