Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated during a speech on Friday with a weapon that appeared to be homemade. The suspect said he intended to target a senior official of a religious group who was not present at the event, according to the Mainichi, a major Japanese newspaper.
Abe, 67, was campaigning for another politician in Nara, a city near Osaka, when a gunman shot him from behind with a shotgun-style weapon that appeared to be homemade, according to Japanese news outlet NHK. Abe was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead.
