Brussels 08.09.2022 NARA, Japan, July 8 (Reuters) – Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader, died on Friday hours after he was shot while campaigning for a parliamentary election, shocking a country in which political violence is rare and guns are tightly controlled.

“It is with deep regret that I have learned of the passing of Shinzo Abe I will never understand the brutal killing of this great man. Japan, Europeans mourn with you. My sincerest condolences to his wife and family” wrote on his Twitter page Charles Michel, the president of the EU Council.

A man opened fire on Abe, 67, from behind with an apparently homemade gun as he spoke at a drab traffic island in the western city of Nara, Japanese media reported.

It was the first assassination of a sitting or former Japanese premier since the days of prewar militarism in 1936.

Doctors struggled to save Abe but he died at 5:03 p.m. (0803 GMT), about five and a half hours after being shot.

He bled to death from two deep wounds, one on the right side of his neck, a doctor told a nationally televised news conference. The former leader had no vital signs when he was brought in.

The video shows the man firing a weapon that left a large puff of smoke; it is believed to be a “homemade,” and potentially, a 3D printed gun. Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, from Nara city was arrested on suspicion of shooting Shinzo Abe. He told police that he was dissatisfied with his leadership and that he “aimed to kill.”
An image of Yamagami surfaced on Japanese media.