FUKUOKA -- A 42-year-old police officer was found stabbed to death Aug. 13 in his "koban" in Yanagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, according to officials. A search is underway for a man who was seen fleeing the semirural area just before noon that day.
Authorities said Keisuke Yamashita, a senior officer of the police substation in Yanagawa's Nishi-Miyanaga district, was found with a knife in the left side of his chest.
Yanagawa fire station employees answered an emergency call from local residents at about 12:40 p.m., only to find Yamashita dead. His handgun and two-way radio were found intact, police said.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing a man in a short-sleeved, yellow shirt and light-colored shorts peddling quickly away from the police box on a bicycle just before noon. He was described to be about 30 years old, 160 cm tall, with short hair and a chunky figure.
Police said they have not yet discovered a motive for the stabbing.