The number of shootings in Japan in the first half of this year declined by 43 from a year ago to 88 due to a de-escalation in gang warfare, but only 22 were probed, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
The agency said that 22 of the 88 cases were investigated and reckoned that 58 of them were gang-related.
The number of homicides and armed robberies involving guns fell by 22 to 71, agency officials said, adding that 13 people lost their lives, down by seven from a year ago, and 11 of them were gangsters.
The NPA said 312 guns were seized, 146 of them taken from underworld syndicates.