Who shot Shinzo Abe?

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died on Friday afternoon as a result of the gunshot attack he had suffered the same morning. According to state broadcaster NHK, Shinzo Abe was taken to hospital in cardio-respiratory arrest – a term used in Japan indicating no signs of life. “The doctors tried to resuscitate him. However, he sadly passed away at 5:03 p.m.,” said Hidetada Fukushima, professor of emergency medicine at Nara Medical University Hospital.

The 67-year-old former chief executive was making a speech in the street in Nara, central Honshu, at a rally ahead of Sunday’s senatorial elections, when gunshots fire were heard around noon (local time, 5:00 a.m. in France). A man was immediately tackled to the ground and disarmed. Arrested for attempted murder, the suspect is said to be a 41-year-old Japanese man named Tetsuya Yamagami. He would have previously belonged to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, the Japanese Navy, for three years.

When questioned by police, the suspect confessed to committing the crime, a senior Nara area police official said on Friday. “The suspect said he held a grudge against a certain organization and he confessed to committing the crime because he believed former Prime Minister Abe was related to him,” the policeman told reporters, declining to give further details. details. At his home, quickly searched, the police would have found a veritable arsenal of weapons and homemade bombs.

A speech announced, a shooter in the crowd

Shinzo Abe “was giving a speech and a man came up from behind,” a young woman at the scene told NHK. “The first shot sounded like a toy. It didn’t drop and there was a big bang. The second shot was more visible, you could see the spark and smoke,” he said. -she adds. “After the second shot, people surrounded him and gave him a heart massage,” she testified. Shinzo Abe collapsed and was bleeding from the neck, a source from the ruling nationalist right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) told the Jiji news agency.

Local PLD officials also said they had received no threat before the attack and that this speech by Shinzo Abe had been announced publicly. Public broadcaster NHK released a video showing the alleged shooter among the audience waiting for Shinzo Abe to speak, suggesting a premeditated act.

安倍元首相銃撃
事件 の 直前 に NHK の 記者 が 撮影 し た 映像 は は は 、 者 者 と み 人物 、 演説 が 始まる の の 待っ て て いる す が て て て て て て て て て て て て て て て て て て い まし た。。 。https: //t.co/jli9oqdp43#nhk_video pic.twitter.com/XOKQsyy3Fe

— NHKニュース (@nhk_news) July 8, 2022

Have : The terrible images of the assassination of Shinzo Abe

The weapon in question

According to the first elements, the suspect may have fired a homemade rifle. Japan has one of the strictest gun control laws in the world, and the annual number of gun deaths in the country of 125 million people is extremely low.

Obtaining a gun license is a long and complicated process, even for Japanese citizens, who must first obtain a recommendation from a shooting association and then undergo strict police checks.