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Post by Admin on Jul 9, 2022 1:48:21 GMT
The world reacted with horror and shock at the cold-blooded assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday. In a country that has virtually no gun violence, what made the crime even more unusual was the strange, seemingly homemade double-barreled weapon used by the shooter. Abe was giving a campaign speech in the city of Nara, in southern Japan, when he was shot in the neck and heart at close range. The alleged gunman—named by local authorities as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami—was photographed throwing a homemade firearm to the ground before being tackled by security officials. Videos of the shooting circulating online show the gunman approaching Abe from behind before firing two shots, both producing extremely loud cannon-like booms and plumes of white smoke. Police later said they found multiple homemade guns and explosives when they searched Yamagami’s house, adding that he had allegedly admitted to shooting Abe with a DIY firearm. From images of the gun, captured by bystanders including a reporter for Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, experts immediately suspected it was homemade. “The box-like device is wrapped in black tape and smoke can be seen coming from the muzzle. It’s certainly no standard shotgun,” a former detective for the Metropolitan Police Department firearms control division told The Daily Beast after reviewing photos. While stressing it’s too early to be definitive about the precise design of the weapon used to murder Abe, another authority said the gun appeared to have some highly unusual features. “I think the first interesting observation is that it’s clearly electrically fired,” said N. R. Jenzen-Jones, an arms and munitions intelligence specialist and Director of the U.K.-based Armament Research Services (ARES). “There’s electrical wire passing through each of those end caps that you can see in one of the images. That indicates to me that it’s an electrically-fired firearm.” “My hunch is that it’s probably a muzzle-loading design,” Jenzen-Jones added. “It’s probably a smooth-bore weapon—by which I mean unrifled, like a shotgun—but again, that’s not a certainty.” Jenzen-Jones also thought that the apparent design was fairly atypical of those he’s seen during more than 10 years of research on improvised guns. “It’s not a common craft-produced design that we see all over the world,” he added. “Japan not only has very strict firearms laws but also very strict laws regulating the sale and possession of ammunition,” he added, saying that may explain why the gun’s creator may have opted for a design that didn’t require commercial ammunition. Owing to its stringent laws, Japan has extremely low rates of gun crime. With a population of 125 million people, Japan only saw 10 criminal cases involving guns last year, of which only one resulted in someone being killed, local police say.
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Post by Admin on Jul 9, 2022 15:40:36 GMT
Body of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe returns to Tokyo home - BBC News 253,513 views Jul 9, 2022 The body of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has returned to his home in Tokyo.
As a hearse carrying Abe's body arrived at his residence in the Japanese capital, members of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party, dressed in black, lined up to pay their respects.
Abe was shot dead while speaking at a political campaign event in the southern city of Nara.
Police investigating the assassination have said the suspect held a grudge against a "specific organisation".
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Post by Admin on Jul 9, 2022 19:34:45 GMT
The police chief of the prefecture where Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated said he “takes responsibility” for security failures that resulted in the killing. At a press conference on Saturday, Nara Prefectural Police Chief Tomoaki Onizuka said that Abe’s security followed his own approved plan. “As the regional police chief responsible for safety and security of the region, I took necessary steps and built structures for security and guarding,” he said. “I believe it is undeniable that there were problems with the guarding and safety measures for former prime minister Abe.” “After the first report of the incident came at 11:30 a.m., and the situation was revealed, it was the height of the guilt and regret I’ve felt in my 27 years in law enforcement,” he said. “I feel the weight of my responsibility.” Abe, 67, was pronounced dead at at 5:03 p.m. local time on Friday, just over five hours after he was shot while delivering a campaign speech in front of a small crowd. His alleged killer, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, used a homemade firearm in the attack and was taken into custody at the scene. Police are still investigating the motive for the killing. The assassination sent shockwaves around the world given the attack happened in broad daylight in a country with one of the world’s lowest rates of gun related violence. Japan’s National Police Agency has announced it will review security arrangements that were in place, according to NHK.
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Post by Admin on Jul 9, 2022 22:24:11 GMT
Atweet from Ivanka Trump on Friday about the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has caused some backlash online due to a remark she made of his impact he had on her own "government service."
Abe, 67, was assassinated Friday when a suspected 41-year-old gunman shot him twice with what officials have deemed a homemade gun. The incident occurred while Abe was giving a stump speech in support of fellow Liberal Democratic Party member and national election candidate Kei Sato.
Trump expressed condolences on Twitter to his family and all Japanese people, calling Abe "a truly historic figure & leader of lasting consequence," adding that his "advice, wisdom & warmth had a profound impact" on her role in her father's White House.
It prompted users online to question what exactly her "government service" consisted of in her role as adviser in her father's administration.
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Post by Admin on Jul 10, 2022 17:29:46 GMT
NBC News’ Tom Llamas speaks with Caroline Kennedy, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan from 2013 to 2017, about the life and legacy of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe following his assassination at a campaign event.
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