Man who shot former Japanese PM reveals hateful motivation

The man who shot former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe has told investigators that he thought Abe was linked to a group that he hated. The man, 41 year old Tetsuya Yamagami, shot Abe during a campaign speech in Nara, western Japan, on Friday. Police have not yet named the group that Yamagami says he hates.

Japanese media reported, however, that Yamagami had developed hatred toward a religious group that his mother was obsessed with, and that caused his family financial problems. Despite his reported hatred, people who had interacted with Yamagami told Kyodo News Agency that he was a “totally normal” and seemingly “earnest” person.

A former colleague noted, however, that Yamagami kept to himself, never sharing much beyond work chatter. The unnamed former colleague worked with Yamagami at the freight department of a factory in Kyoto prefecture in 2020. He said…

“If it was work talk, he would respond, but he didn’t go into his private life. He seemed mild-mannered,”

The former colleague said that Yamagami would eat lunch in his car alone. He said that Yamagami didn’t have issues during the first 6 months of his job, but then he started to show “gradual neglect” of work practices.

Yamagami’s assassination of the former PM has called into question Japan’s security. Despite the country’s strict gun laws, one top police official has acknowledged possible lapses in security that allowed Yamagami to commit his crime.

Abe was shot twice, the first allegedly missed with the second shot hitting him in the side of the neck. Yamagami used a homemade gun.

SOURCE: Associated Press | CNN