Killer went to Abe speech the day before shooting him
‘We will never give in to violence. I will stand in front of you until the end of the campaign’
THE gunman who killed Shinzo Abe stalked the former Japanese prime minister at a previous election campaign event, he has admitted to police.
Investigators are questioning Tetsuya Yamagami, a former member of Japan’s maritime self-defence forces, about his motives for shooting Mr Abe with a homemade weapon in Nara while he spoke ahead of today’s election.
They said the suspect has confirmed he attended a speech by Mr Abe in Okayama the day before the shooting. Tomoaki Onizuka, the police chief of the area where Mr Abe was gunned down, said: “I believe it is undeniable that there were problems with the guarding and safety measures.”
Policing has become a key element of the investigation, with two inquiries opened into how an armed assailant managed to get within a few yards of Mr Abe without being challenged, even though police officers at the venue were armed.
There were clear concerns among the politicians who resumed campaigning ahead of today’s election for the Upper House of the Diet.
“The candidates that I have been speaking with are all saying that they will stand up to what is a clear pushback against our democracy,” said Keiro Kitagami, an independent member of the Lower House of the Diet.
Mr Kitagami, who represents a constituency in Kyoto, was campaigning for a colleague in today’s election. He said: “I’ve had phone calls from my supporters all day telling me to be careful because, as we have seen, anything can happen.”
Mr Abe’s body left Nara yesterday morning, accompanied by his widow, Akie, and arrived at the family home in Tokyo in the afternoon. The cortege was met by Fumio Kishida, the prime minister. Neighbours held flowers outside the property.
Mr Kishida, who condemned the killing as “barbaric”, returned to campaigning later in the day, with a more visible police presence on hand. He said: “We will never give in to violence.
I will stand in front of you until the end of this campaign.”
He addressed the crowd from the top of a campaign vehicle and waved, but opted not to mingle and exchange fist bumps, as he has done previously.
In Nara, police have searched the small apartment where Yamagami lived alone, discovering home-made weapons similar to the gun used to kill Mr Abe and several explosive devices.
Yamagami has told police he originally planned to attack the head of a religious group that he believes exerted pressure on his elderly mother to provide donations that bankrupted the family. But he switched to Mr Abe as security around his original target was too tight. Yamagami added that Mr Abe represented an appropriate alternative as he had expressed his support for the group, which police have not named.
Local media have also quoted police sources as saying that Yamagami has made “incoherent” statements and that an evaluation will need to be carried out to determine whether he is competent to stand trial.