Police arrest suspected shooter of former Japanese prime minister
A man believed to be the suspected shooter of former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, is held by police officers at Yamato Saidaiji S…
A man believed to be the suspected shooter of former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has been held by the police at Yamato Saidaiji Station in Nara.
The suspected attacker was tackled at the scene and is now in police custody.
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The suspect was identified by Japanese media as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, a resident of Nara city.
He is reported to be a former member of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force, the country’s navy, but the defence ministry has not officially confirmed this.
Japanese broadcaster NHK reports Yamagami as telling police he was “dissatisfied with Abe and wanted to kill him”.
The suspect is now in police custody.
Eyewitnesses said they saw a man carrying what they described as a large gun and firing twice at Abe from behind.
It is unclear how the shooter came to know about Abe’s attendance at the campaign in advance, as the visit was only confirmed late last night.