NARA, Japan – Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, one of Japan’s most influential postwar leaders, died Friday at the age of 67 after being shot while giving a speech in the western city of Nara two days before an election. nationals, surprising the world. and provoke outrage against gun violence.
The senior leader was shot dead by a 41-year-old man who approached him from behind with a homemade gun while he was speaking in front of Yamato-Saidaiji Station on the Kintetsu Railway around 11:30 a.m. from Japan said the police. Abe collapsed to the ground after hearing two loud shots and was rushed to a hospital with blood on his white shirt.
Video footage shows former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe giving a speech in Nara on July 8, 2022, shortly before he was shot by a gunman. (Kyodo)
A doctor at Nara Medical University Hospital later told a news conference that Abe was pronounced dead at 5:03 p.m. and that the wound was deep enough to reach his heart, adding that it is believed the cause of death is loss of blood.
Tetsuya Yamagami, a resident of Nara, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder, police said. The suspect was a member of the Maritime Self-Defense Force for about three years until August 2005, according to government sources.
“It is not a grudge against former Prime Minister Abe’s political beliefs,” Nara Prefectural Police said, citing Yamagami. His home was later searched by police, who found items that could be explosives and homemade weapons, they said.
Police said Yamagami, who arrived at the speech site by train carrying a cloth bag, has confessed to committing the crime because he has a grudge against a “specific organization” he believes is linked to Abe. They said the weapon used was about 40 centimeters long and 20 cm high.
He told police he had found information online about Abe’s schedule for stump speeches, investigators said. The former prime minister’s schedule was set on Thursday afternoon.
Yamagami, now unemployed, had been working at a manufacturer in the Kansai region covering Osaka, Nara and Kyoto since fall 2020, but quit in May this year, according to an employee at the staffing agency. .
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C) lies on the ground by the side of a road after being shot by a gunman while giving a speech in Nara, western Japan, July 8, 2022, before of the Chamber of Councilors of July 10. choice (Kyodo)
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, returning to his office in Tokyo by helicopter from Yamagata Prefecture where he was campaigning, condemned the shooting of the former leader “in the strongest possible terms.”
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets the press at his office in Tokyo on July 8, 2022, as former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, 67, was confirmed dead after being shot by a gunman while giving a speech in Nara, western Japan, for the July 10 House of Councilors election. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
“The barbaric act that cost former Prime Minister Abe his life during (campaigning for) an election that serves as the foundation of democracy should never be tolerated,” a tearful Kishida said afterward that the death of the former prime minister was confirmed, which sent shock waves. Japan and the rest of the world.
“I am shocked, outraged and deeply saddened by the news that my friend Abe Shinzo, former Prime Minister of Japan, has been shot and killed,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement. “We know that violent attacks are never acceptable and that gun violence always leaves a deep scar on the communities affected by it.”
Abe, who served as prime minister until 2020, was taken to hospital with no signs of life and also with two neck injuries, according to the doctor.
“There was bleeding from several places and it couldn’t be stopped completely,” despite emergency treatment, said the doctor, Hidetada Fukushima. “Unfortunately, his heartbeat did not resume.”
Abe, who was also the long-time leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was in the city to support a candidate running in Sunday’s House of Councilors election and there was a crowd of people listening his speech near the railway station when the attack took place.
Although the attacker’s motive is not fully known, Kishida said he will continue to campaign without giving in to violence and ensure a “free and fair” election.
A Kyodo News reporter at the scene saw the gunman, wearing a white mask, gray polo shirt and brown pants, quietly approach Abe, who had been talking for a few minutes, before shooting him .
There were screams from the crowd and Abe fell to the ground seconds later. Yamagami, who appeared on the road about five meters from him, was immediately arrested by police officers.
A campaign staff member was seen desperately trying to revive Abe by pushing on his chest with both hands as he lay on the ground with his eyes closed. People nearby called for medical assistance.
It is a rare case of a shooting in Japan, a country with strict gun regulations. No Japanese prime minister after World War II had been assassinated.
The gun used by Abe’s assailant made a noise that could be compared to an explosion, and white smoke rose into the air after being discharged. An odor similar to gunpowder could then be detected.
The gun appeared to have the barrel wrapped in duct tape, the reporter said.
Copies of an extra edition of a newspaper are handed out to pedestrians in Sapporo, northern Japan, on July 8, 2022, after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot by a gunman while giving a speech in Nara to at the Chamber of Councilors on July 10. choice (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Born into a prominent political family, Abe served as secretary to his father, former Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe, before being elected to the House of Representatives in 1993.
He had a brief stint as prime minister between 2006 and 2007 before taking office again in 2012. He stepped down due to ill health after nearly eight years.
During his second term as leader, he implemented economic policies called “Abenomics” marked by massive monetary easing, fiscal stimulus and structural reforms aimed at beating deflation and turning around the country’s stagnant economy.
Abe made efforts to strengthen Japan’s security alliance with the United States and raise Japan’s profile abroad, while seeking to promote reform of Japan’s US-drafted pacifist Constitution.
In 2014, the Abe administration continued with a reinterpretation of the Constitution to allow the use of collective self-defense — defending allies even without an attack on Japan itself — and expanded the role of the Self-Defense Forces under the new security legislation. in 2016.
The conservative hawk sometimes drew the ire of Japan’s Asian neighbors over war issues. In December 2013, Abe visited Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, seen as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism, prompting a strong response, particularly from China and South Korea.
Related Coverage:
Timeline of the main events related to former Japanese Prime Minister Abe
Former PM Abe’s shooting shakes Japan’s lawmakers, business leaders and voters
Leaders around the world are paying tribute to former Japanese Prime Minister Abe
