Abe Shinzo gunman killed - suspect, 41-year-old former Maritime Self-Defense Force - 安倍晋三 死亡

Former Japanese Prime Minister Abe was shot and killed on the campaign trail

 

 

The Asahi Shimbun released photos and information of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's shooter on the 8th.

 

ccording to investigators, the man is Tetsuya Yamagami (41), who lives in Nara City, and was arrested by police on charges of attempted murder shortly after the crime. Yamagami is a former Maritime Self-Defense Force officer who reportedly worked for about three years until around 2005.

 

At the time of the crime, the man was wearing a mask, glasses, a shirt, and long pants. The gun used by the man was not known exactly, but it was quite large and some observers said it was a shotgun. The Asahi Shimbun quoted a police official as saying that the weapon used by the man in the crime was a handmade gun, and adhesive tape was wrapped around a cylindrical barrel.

 

 

Witnesses

 Witnesses testified that the criminal approached from behind Abe at the time and fired two shots at a close distance. A woman in her 50s, who was nearby, told the Sankei Shimbun, "Abe was speaking with her back to the station, and the man stopped about 34 meters later and suddenly shot her, " adding, "The man did not shout or say anything at the moment of shooting."

 

 

 

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 There were reports that a suspicious phone call was recently made to the office of the candidate for the upper house election, where former Prime Minister Abe was scheduled to hold a support campaign. The man reportedly hung up when an official who thought the schedule inquiry was suspicious at the time asked why.

 

 Earlier in the day, Abe was in Yamato-Sai, Narashi, at around 11:30a.mTwo shots were fired from behind while campaigning near the area. He was conscious in the early days of being transported by an ambulance and responded to the sound of calling him, but he later lost consciousness and was reportedly in a cardiopulmonary arrest state. Cardiopulmonary arrest has stopped heart and breathing, but has not been declared dead by a doctor.

 

 Japanese political circles were shocked by the incident. Candidates who ran for the upper house of parliament responded enthusiastically on social networking services (SNS), saying, "We are sincerely praying for former Prime Minister Abe's military affairs, " and "We should never forgive suspects."