SEOUL — Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated Friday, stunning a nation where gun violence and political attacks are rare. Japan's influential and longest-serving prime minister worked to revitalize the nation's economy — with his namesake "Abenomics" policy — and rebuild its role on the global stage. He was 67.
Abe was giving a speech for a candidate in Nara, a city in western Japan, just ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections, when a man fatally shot him from behind with a handmade firearm.
Police arrested the suspect identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old unemployed former member of Japan's maritime defense force. Police say he confessed to the crime, but his motive remains unclear.
The assassination elicited shock, horror and contrasting views from a public that was deeply divided about his policies.
