Suspect in fatal Sasebo sports club shooting found dead outside church

Police on Saturday found a man in a camouflage outfit lying dead in a pool of blood near a Catholic church in the town of Funakoshi. Police said the 37-year-old man is suspected of being the gunman in Friday's shooting rampage at a sports club in Sasebo, that left two dead and six injured.

The church is in the town of Funakoshi, about 5 kilometers southwest of the sports club, police officials said, adding that a shotgun was found near the body of the man who has been identified as Masayoshi Magome.
Magome apparently committed suicide, as the sound of a gunshot was heard around 5:44 a.m. from the church's direction, police said.
Police said Magome, who is from Funakoshi, is the owner of a white minivan in which two shotguns, one air gun and camouflage clothing were discovered after the vehicle was found early Saturday in front of the church.
According to police investigations, the suspect is said to have gone to the same junior high school as one of the two people killed in Friday's 7:10 p.m. incident in the sports club Renaissance Sasebo, identified as Yuji Fujimoto, a 36-year-old fishing gear maker.
Some kind of trouble between the suspect and either Fujimoto or the other person killed, identified as Mai Kuramoto, a 26-year-old female swimming instructor, developed into the shooting rampage.
Six other people aged 9 to 48 were injured, but their conditions were not life-threatening, police said.
The suspect was a regular user of the sports club, police said.
Police said the gunman was wearing a camouflage suit, a silver gray down-jacket and a full-face helmet. He was described as well-built and about 170-190 centimeters tall.
The gunman entered the building from the front entrance, before randomly shooting at people in the lobby and in an office room, in addition to a pool where a swimming lesson for children was being held. People near the scene told investigators they heard at least six shots.
Kuramoto was shot in the office room back of a reception counter, police said.
There were about 50 club members and 20 staffers at the time of the shooting, according to the club's Tokyo-based operator Renaissance Inc.
The site is in a residential area about 2 kilometers north of JR Sasebo Station, with a city residents' hall, a junior high school and a nursing facility nearby.