Japanese authorities said that investigations into Shinzo Abe's assassination discovered that the gunman initially planned to use a bomb to kill the former prime minister in Okayama.
Tetsuya Yamagami, the identified suspect who fatally shot Abe during a speech in Nara, is a 41-year-old man who admitted to shooting the Japanese politician. The incident resulted in the 67-year-old being pronounced dead by doctors at the Nara Medical University Hospital at 5:03 p.m. local time on Friday.
Shinzo Abe's Assassination
The gunman, who is unemployed, told authorities that he holds hatred toward a certain group that he believed Abe was linked to, said Nara Nishi police. Officials said Yamagami was described as a "totally normal" and seemingly "earnest" person by at least two people who had interacted with him.
The individual was hired through a dispatch agency in October 2020 to work at the freight department of a factory in Kyoto prefecture. A former senior colleague of the gunman characterized the suspect as someone who kept to himself. The relative ease at which the suspect was able to approach Abe raised questions regarding the former prime minister's security, as per CNN.
Tomoaki Onizuka, the Nara police chief, said in a statement on Saturday that he "can't deny there were problems" with Abe's security and took full responsibility for the incident. He added, "After the first report of the incident came, it was the height of the guilt and regret I've felt in my 27 years in law enforcement. I feel the weight of my responsibility."
The murder of Abe was followed by his party's victory in the elections as James Brady of the Teneo consultancy said that the ruling LDP-Komeito coalition was already on a course for a solid win. He added that, in the following months, the Japanese government is "certain to seek to strengthen domestic security."
According to Reuters, the suspect allegedly made the firearm that he used to kill Abe by hand using metal and wood. He was also known to have worked at Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Forces for three years.
Gunman's Motives
Authorities also discovered "several" other handmade guns at Yamagami's one-room flat in Nara city. After Abe's death, members of the public laid flowers near the spot where he fell as his body, was set to be transferred to his Tokyo home on Saturday.
The former prime minister's death is the first killing of a sitting or former Japanese political leader since a 1936 coup attempt when several figures and two ex-premiers were assassinated. In the post-war era, Japan prides itself on its orderly and open democracy with senior Japanese politicians being accompanied by armed security agents.
The Abe family is scheduled to hold a wake on Monday and a funeral on Tuesday for relatives and close acquaintances of the former prime minister. No plans for a potential state funeral have been released to the public.
Police authorities have shared very little information regarding the suspect but some details leaked out. Yamagami's mother allegedly became bankrupt after spending her money to support a religious group and said his family fell apart because of his mother's obsession with the group and targeted Abe out of "resentment," the Washington Post reported.
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