The former prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe 67, was assassinated today, Friday, July 8, 2022, in the city of Nara while giving a speech in western Japan.
The weapon used to assassinate the former Prime Minister appears to have been an improvised firearm.
According to reports by The New York Times, the video of the assassination shows a device on the ground after the attack, consisting of two tubes perhaps just over a foot in length and bound together side by side with black electrical tape — similar to a double-barrel shotgun.
The suspect, named Tetsuya Yamagami, admitted shooting Abe with a homemade gun, and said he had a grudge against a “specific organisation”, police said.
Several other handmade weapons, similar to those used in the attack, had been confiscated after a search of the suspect’s house, police officers told a news conference.
The police in Nara, Japan, confirmed in a news conference that they had seized multiple handmade guns from the suspect’s apartment, as well as a computer and books. The suspect is talking to investigators.
“The suspect told the police that he had a grudge against a specific group he believed Abe was connected to,” the police said.
The police are therefore investigating why the former PM was targeted out of other people related to the group.
Abe was elected to the House of Representatives in the 1993 election. He was appointed Chief Cabinet Secretary by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in September 2005, before replacing him as prime minister and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president in September 2006.
Abe’s premiership was known internationally for his government’s economic policies, which pursued monetary easing, fiscal stimulus, and structural reforms for Japan.