A senior police official has acknowledged possible security flaws that allowed an assassin to shoot with his weapon at former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe while addressing a campaign rally, asking questions how the attacker could approach -be so much behind him. Abe received a shot to the west. On Friday in the city of Nara and he was flown to a hospital but died of blood loss. Police arrested the attacker, a former member of the Japanese navy, at the scene. Police confiscated his homemade weapon and later found several others in his apartment.
The attacker, Tetsuya Yamagami, told investigators he acted because he believed rumors that Abe was connected to an organization he was bothering him with, police said.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was making a speech when he was shot on Friday and then died in hospital. (Supplied)
Japanese media reported that the man had developed hatred towards a religious group for which his mother was obsessed and which caused him family financial problems. The reports did not specify the group.
On Saturday, a black hearse carrying Abe’s body and accompanied by his wife, Akie, arrived at his home in Tokyo’s exclusive Shibuya residential area. Many bad guys, including senior party officials, waited for his remains and lowered their heads as the vehicle passed.
Nara prefectural police chief Tomoaki Onizuka said Abe’s murder was the “biggest regret” of his 27-year career. “I can’t deny that there were issues with our security,” Onizuka said.
“Whether it was a configuration, an emergency response or people’s ability, we still have to figure it out. Overall, there was a problem and we’ll review it from all perspectives.”
A hearse believed to carry the body of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrives at his home in Tokyo. (Photo AP / Eugene Hoshiko)
Abe’s assassination ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary election shocked the nation and raised questions about whether the former prime minister’s security was adequate.
Some observers who watched videos of the attack noticed a lack of attention in the open space behind Abe as he spoke.
A former Kyoto prefectural police investigator, Fumikazu Higuchi, said the images suggested security was poor at the event and insufficient for a former prime minister.
“We need to investigate why security allowed Yamagami to move freely and go after Mr. Abe,” Higuchi told a Nippon TV talk show.
A senior Japanese police commander has admitted there were possible flaws in the security operation to protect Shinzo Abe. (AP)
Experts also said Abe was more vulnerable standing at ground level, rather than on top of a camper, which is usually the case, but was reportedly unavailable due to his hasty visit to Nara.
“It looks like the police were mainly focusing forward, while paying little attention to what was behind Mr. Abe, and no one was preventing the suspect from approaching him,” said Mitsuru Fukuda, a professor of crisis management. at Nihon University.
“Obviously there were problems.”
Fukuda said election campaigns offer an opportunity for voters and politicians to interact because “political terrorism” was extremely rare in postwar Japan.
The attacker, Tetsuya Yamagami, told investigators he acted because he believed rumors that Shinzo Abe was connected to an organization he was bothering him with, police said. (Nara Shimbun / Kyodo News via AP)
But Abe’s murder could lead to stricter security at crowded events such as campaigns, sports games and others.
A look at the high-profile political assassinations of this century
During a parliamentary debate in 2015, Abe resisted suggestions from an opposition lawmaker to bolster his security, insisting that “Japan is a safe country.”