Shinzo Abe assassination in Japan: More details about gunman, and what Nara police admit they did wrong

The suspected gunman in the assassination of Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe was taken to Nara District Prosecutor’s Office on Sunday (July 10). Police identified the suspect as Tetsuya Yamagami. Who is Yamagami and why did he kill Abe in Nara city on Friday (July 8)? According to Nara Police, Yamagami was arrested at the scene of the shooting on Friday. Yamagami admitted to shooting Abe while the former prime minister was delivering a campaign speech in front of a small crowd on a street. The 41-year-old gunman, who is unemployed, told investigators he believed that Abe was linked to a certain religious group that he blamed for his mother’s financial problems. Police have not named the group. According to investigators, Yamagami spent months plotting the attack, even attending other Abe campaign events, including one a day earlier some 200km away. Police said Yamagami used a homemade gun made with wood, tape and two metal barrels that measured about 16 inches long. He inserted them with bullets, parts of which he bought online. Police also seized several homemade guns from the suspect’s apartment. The guns had three, five and six iron pipes as barrels. Investigators believe he used the strongest gun that he made to kill Abe. During investigation, Yamagami admitted that he originally planned to kill Abe using explosives in Okayama prefecture. "I was thinking about killing the former prime minister there (Okayama), but I saw that there were admission procedures at the entrance and I felt it would be difficult to get in", he told investigators, according to NHK. Surveillance footage showed him leaving the Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara on Friday after arriving by train.

Police admit Nara security flaws

Police have acknowledged security flaws in Nara city where the former prime minister was gunned down in public. “We can’t deny that there were problems with the security plan given how things ended,” Nara prefectural police chief Tomoaki Onizuka told a news conference. “I feel a grave sense of responsibility,” he said, adding that police would analyse what exactly went wrong and implement any necessary changes. Nara police have said Abe was protected at the rally by one armed specialised police officer and some other local officers. Police, however, would not say exactly how many officers were assigned in Abe's security detail. Meanwhile, elections for seats in Japan’s upper house of parliament are going ahead as scheduled on Sunday, with the vote expected to deliver victory to the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, an Abe protege. Abe, 67, was the longest serving prime minister of Japan until he resigned in 2020. He was the prime minister of Japan from 2006 to 2007, and from 2012 to 2020. ICA/Expat Media
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