Police have put a 62-year-old senior member of a yakuza crime syndicate on the wanted list for allegedly fatally shooting a man at a Starbucks outlet in western Japan over the weekend.

Local police have obtained an arrest warrant for Yuichiro Maetani on suspicion of murdering the 49-year-old man at a Starbucks Coffee Japan Co. shop located in a shopping mall in Shikokuchuo, Ehime Prefecture on Sunday.

Police investigate the scene at a Starbucks outlet in Shikokuchuo, Ehime Prefecture, on Jan. 14, 2024. (Kyodo)

Maetani, a member of the Ikeda-gumi syndicate based in nearby Okayama, is still at large after fleeing the scene carrying what appeared to be a handgun, according to the police.

He is around 163 centimeters in height and was wearing a red jacket and beige pants at the time, they said.

An autopsy showed that the victim, Yuichiro Ishikawa, bled to death, the police said, adding the suspect likely shot him multiple times in the chest area.

The police believe Ishikawa was on the terrace of the coffee shop when he was shot. None of the other customers in the shop were hurt, they said.

The police suspect that Maetani and Ishikawa knew each other and were involved in some kind of trouble.