Shinzo Abe was assassinated on a street in western Japan by a gunman who opened fire on him from behind as he delivered a campaign speech.
The suspected killer of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said he had used a handmade gun on Friday, according to the police. The police named the suspected killer as unemployed 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami.
Abe was assassinated on a street in western Japan by a gunman who opened fire on him from behind as he delivered a campaign speech — an attack that stunned the nation that has some of the strictest gun control laws anywhere.
“That’s the suspect’s assertion, and we have determined that (the gun) is clearly handmade in appearance, although our analysis is currently ongoing,” news agency AFP quoted a police officer in Nara region as saying.
Abe, 67, who was Japan’s longest-serving leader when he resigned in 2020, collapsed bleeding and was airlifted to a nearby hospital in Nara, although he was not breathing and his heart had stopped. He was later pronounced dead after receiving massive blood transfusions, officials said.
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