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Kyodo

The man who fatally shot former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe told police that he initially planned to attack a leader of a religious group that he believed caused his mother to become bankrupted through donations, investigative sources said on Saturday.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, also admitted that he had intent to kill Abe, believing he had promoted the group in Japan, the sources said.
Abe died on Friday after being shot from behind during a stump speech near a railway station in the western prefecture of Nara. Yamagami was arrested at the scene where he was wielding a home-made gun.
Yamagami had repeatedly visited locations where Abe had delivered campaign speeches ahead of Sunday’s Upper House election.
Yamagami has denied he committed the crime because he was opposed to Abe’s political belief, according to police.
How Shinzo Abe’s killer thwarted Japan’s strict gun laws
Police searched his home on Friday, finding items that are believed to be explosives and home-made guns.
Yamagami, now unemployed, was working at a manufacturer in the Kansai region from around the autumn of 2020, but he quit in May this year, according to a staffing agency employee. He was previously a member of the Maritime Self-Defence Force for about three years through August 2005.
On Saturday morning, a car carrying the body of Abe left the hospital in Nara where his autopsy was conducted. His wife Akie was in the car which arrived in Tokyo in the afternoon.
The autopsy determined that there were two gunshot wounds, on Abe’s upper left arm and neck, police said. There was another wound on the neck but it is unknown how that was caused, they added.


On Saturday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden who expressed his condolences over the death of Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader.
Biden noted the “unwavering confidence in the strength of Japan’s democracy” and the two leaders also discussed how Abe’s legacy will live on as the two countries continue the important task of defending peace and democracy, according to the White House.
Kishida told reporters after the phone talks that he had conveyed to Biden Japan’s willingness to “protect democracy without yielding to violence.”


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Shinzo Abe

Shinzo Abe’s shooter Tetsuya Yamagami initially planned to attack leader of Japan religious group that bankrupted his mum: police

Police at the shooting scene arrested Tetsuya Yamagami on suspicion of murder. Photo: EPA-EFE/The Asahi Shimbun

Shinzo Abe: a political titan who shaped Japan’s policies on China, defence, economy

Former PM Shinzo Abe. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa

Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. File photo: dpa

Japan’s former PM Shinzo Abe with Indian PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi. File photo: AFP 

A Chinese maritime surveillance vessel passes near the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. File photo: Kyodo

People in Tokyo look at a TV news report about the attack on former Shinzo Abe on July 8, 2022. Photo: AFP 

World leaders from China to Singapore and Australia stunned by death of Japan’s Shinzo Abe

An image of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, after he was shot and killed in the city of Nara. Photo: AFP

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reacts to the news of the death of Shinzo Abe. Photo: dpa

News

Asia

East Asia

Yamagami, who is in custody, admitted that he had intent to kill Abe because he believed the ex-leader promoted the group in Japan
He had repeatedly visited other locations where Abe delivered campaign speeches ahead of Sunday’s Upper House election


Yamagami, who is in custody, admitted that he had intent to kill Abe because he believed the ex-leader promoted the group in Japan.


Japan

Shinzo Abe’s shooter Tetsuya Yamagami initially planned to attack leader of Japan religious group that bankrupted his mum: police

Yamagami, who is in custody, admitted that he had intent to kill Abe because he believed the ex-leader promoted the group in Japan He had repeatedly visited other locations where Abe delivered campaign speeches ahead of Sunday’s Upper House election

Yamagami, who is in custody, admitted that he had intent to kill Abe because he believed the ex-leader promoted the group in Japan

He had repeatedly visited other locations where Abe delivered campaign speeches ahead of Sunday’s Upper House election