Before fatal shooting, Japan’s Abe was up close with the crowd

Author of the article: NARA — Moments before he was fatally shot from behind on Friday, Japanese former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was doing what he’d done for decades in politics: getting up close to the crowds and stumping for a local candidate. As is typical in Japan, where violent crime is rare and guns…
Before fatal shooting, Japan’s Abe was up close with the crowd

Author of the article:

NARA — Moments before he was fatally shot from behind on Friday, Japanese former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was doing what he’d done for decades in politics: getting up close to the crowds and stumping for a local candidate.

As is typical in Japan, where violent crime is rare and guns are scarce, security appeared to be light on Friday morning as Abe spoke at an intersection outside the Yamato-Saidaiji Station in the western city of Nara.

Roads weren’t blocked off and a bus and a van passed behind Abe’s exposed back as he spoke to the crowd of a few hundred. Two helmeted riders on scooters turned in front of him. Inside a passing hatchback car, someone waved in excited recognition at Japan’s longest-serving premier.

This account is based on footage obtained by Reuters and interviews with witnesses.

Dressed in a dark jacket despite the summer heat, Abe called on the crowd, many of them older, to re-elect Kei Sato, a candidate in Sunday’s upper house election. Some snapped pictures with their phone or mopped their brows in the humidity.

Members of the special police, Japan’s equivalent of the secret service, appeared to be standing at his right and behind him as the two-time prime minister told the crowd of Sato’s pandemic response.

“He was the type of person who didn’t look for reasons not to do something,” Abe recalled.

Behind him, a skinny man dressed in a grey t-shirt and beige cargo pants strode into the road and opened fire with what police later said was a homemade gun, sending a cloud of white smoke towards Abe and the crowd.

For a moment, Abe appeared unaffected. The man, identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old former member of Japan’s maritime self-defense forces – the equivalent of Japan’s navy – fired again.

Yamagami “came out of nowhere on to the middle of the road holding a gun,” said businessman Makoto Ichikawa, who had been near the train station waiting for his wife.

“The first shot no one knew what was going on,” Ichikawa said. After the second shot, Yamagami was tackled by the special police who pinned him down on the ground. His shirt rode up, exposing a black belt with a silver buckle. Like most people in the crowd, he wore a mask.

There was a pause of 10-20 seconds before Yamagami was tackled, said Takenobu Nakajima, who runs a printing company and was at the station to support the LDP.

By then, Abe, 67, lay crumpled on the ground. Footage from media showed blood staining his crisp white shirt.

Ken Namikawa, the mayor of Nara’s Tenri city, called out over a microphone asking if there were any doctors or nurses in the crowd. A nurse came running and joined the crowd of people attending to Abe.

At least one person administered heart massage.

Doctors later said Abe bled to death from deep wounds to the heart and the right side of his neck, despite receiving more than 100 units of blood in transfusions over four hours.

Ichikawa said he was struck by Yamagami’s face as he fired at the former premier.

“It was just a normal expression,” he said. (Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Additional reporting by Sakura Murakami and Reuters Tokyo bureau; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Financial Post Top Stories

Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.

By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

Read More

Total
0
Shares
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Related Posts
Shares in Iveco indicated at 11 euros each in market debut
Read More

Shares in Iveco indicated at 11 euros each in market debut

Author of the article: MILAN — Shares in Iveco failed to start trading at open in Milan on Monday, and were indicated at 11 euros each following the demerger from parent company CNH Industrial. (Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; editing by Valentina Za) Advertisement This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Financial…
Copper declines on demand outlook amid poor Chinese data
Read More

Copper declines on demand outlook amid poor Chinese data

Author of the article: Published May 11, 2023  •  Last updated 8 hours ago  •  1 minute read Copper prices fell on Thursday as subdued trade data from top consumer China darkened the economic outlook for the country, weighing on the metal’s demand prospects. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.2% to $8,372 a…
Essential Energy Services Announces Second Quarter Financial Results and Updated 2022 Capital Spending Forecast
Read More

Essential Energy Services Announces Second Quarter Financial Results and Updated 2022 Capital Spending Forecast

Author of the article: CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Essential Energy Services Ltd. (TSX: ESN) (“Essential” or the “Company”) announces second quarter financial results and its updated 2022 capital spending forecast. SELECTED INFORMATION (in thousands of dollars except per share and percentages) For the three months ended For the six months ended…
Australian Prime Minister Sets Holiday for Queen; Says Not the Time to Discuss Republic Push
Read More

Australian Prime Minister Sets Holiday for Queen; Says Not the Time to Discuss Republic Push

Australia will get a one-time national public holiday to mourn Queen Elizabeth II, as her death revives a decades-long debate over whether the country should become a republic. Author of the article: Bloomberg News Emma O'Brien SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 10: An image of the late Queen Elizabeth II is projected onto the sails of…