Who Killed Japan’s Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Why?

Worldwide consternation has caused the Assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, when he was carrying out a proselytizing act to support a candidate for re-election to the Legislative Upper House for Nara. The authorities managed to immediately arrest the man, who admitted being guilty of a tremendous crime. Here the details.

The attack occurred on the morning of Friday, July 8, in Nara. While the politician was giving his speech, two shots were heard: the first almost went unnoticed, but the second was stronger and fatally wounded Abe, according to information from NHK and the Kyodo news agency.

“The first shot sounded like a toy. He didn’t fall, but then there was a loud bang. The second shot was more visible, you could see the explosion and the smoke,” a source from his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) added to the Jiji agency.

Abe, 67, died four hours later at the hospital. He had bled out. He was the longest serving Prime Minister of Japan. He was in office in 2006 for a year, and then returned to power between 2012 and 2020. But why was he assassinated?

WHO KILLED SHINZO ABE?

The prime suspect in assassinating former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is Yamagami Tetsuya. Who?

He is a 41-year-old unemployed man who has been a member of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces. He was there for three years until 2005. The attacker, originally from Nara, was neutralized immediately after shooting Abe, a crime that has caused worldwide outrage.

During his detention he was still holding the homemade gun with which he had fired twice.

It is not known exactly how he came to know of Abe’s presence at the political rally, as the former prime minister’s presence had only been confirmed late the night before.

Why did he do it?

Tetsuya, according to information from the Japanese press, was unhappy with the former prime minister: “He was frustrated with the former prime minister and aimed at Abe with the intention of killing him”.

THE ATTACKER USED A HOMEMADE WEAPON

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, the BBC’s Tokyo correspondent, reported that Yamagami Tetsuya apparently attacked Shinzo Abe with a homemade weapon, since it is very difficult to obtain a license to carry weapons in Japan.

Thus, in the images taken after the arrest of the suspect, you can see a homemade and improvised double-barreled weapon. Armed violence is unusual in Japan, but attacks on politicians are common.