Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has died: here is what we know about the suspect arrested
Steph Deschamps / July 8, 2022
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, targeted by gunfire late Friday morning (local time) in Nara in the middle of an election campaign, died of his wounds, reports Japanese public television channel NHK.
The 67-year-old former leader was delivering a speech for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ahead of Sunday's senatorial elections when shots rang out. He was hit in the neck and collapsed before being taken to hospital.
A man in his 40s was disarmed and arrested for attempted murder, NHK reported, citing police sources.
According to several local media, the suspect is a 41-year-old Japanese man who used to belong to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, the Japanese Navy.
NHK footage showed Japanese police wearing protective gear entering a building identified by the TV station as the suspect's home Friday afternoon.
The suspect of the attack would probably have used a homemade weapon reports Friday the Japanese television channel NHK.
Japanese police entered Friday the home of the suspect of the gun attack perpetrated a few hours earlier against the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Nara (west), according to images from the public television NHK.
The images showed several police officers wearing protective clothing, helmets and shields entering a building identified by NHK as the home of the man arrested for attempted murder immediately after the attack.