Police chief: Blame me for Shinzo Abe’s assassination

The top law enforcement officer in the Japanese city of Nara, where former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated on Friday, took responsibility for the security flaws that allowed the deadly shooting to occur, dubbing it the “biggest regret” of his 27-year career.

“I cannot deny there were problems with our security,” Nara prefectural police chief Tomoaki Onizuka said. “Whether it was a setup, emergency response, or ability of individuals, we still have to find out. Overall, there was a problem and we will review it from every perspective.”

Nara prefectural police chief Tomoaki Onizuka reacts during a press conference Saturday. (èºìcóD/)

The broad-daylight murder of the former prime minister shocked citizens of Japan, a nation with one of the lowest rates of gun violence in the world. He was delivering a campaign speech when he was fatally shot outside a railway station in Nara by a gunman wielding a homemade firearm.

Abe, 67, was pronounced dead at 5:03 p.m. local time on Friday, just more than five hours after the attack.

Shinzo Abe is pictured during a campaign speech moments before being shot on Friday.

Police have said the suspect, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, held a grudge against a “specific organization” with which Abe was involved. He was arrested on the scene of the shooting.

“The urgent matter is for us to conduct a thorough investigation to clarify what happened,” Onizuka said as he struggled to battle back his emotion.

According to the Asahi newspaper, Yamagami was a contract worker at a warehouse in Kyoto, operating a forklift. He also told investigators he served in Japan’s navy, the Maritime Self-Defense Force, for three years, BBC News reported.

Tetsuya Yamagami, center, holding a homemade weapon, is detained near the site of gunshots in Nara, western Japan, on Friday.

Abe was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. He stepped down in 2020, citing health reasons.

With News Wire Services