Former Japanese prime minister assassinated

Name: WORLD
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Shinzo Abe was delivering a campaign speech in the western city of Nara on Friday when two loud bangs rang out. Video footage showed Abe collapsing on the street as security guards ran toward him. He was pronounced dead hours later at a hospital. The 67-year-old was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister before he stepped down in 2020 over health issues.

Who was behind the attack? Abe’s security guards seized one man moments after the shooting. Police identified the suspect as Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old who served in the Maritime Self-Defense Force for three years in the early 2000s. The assassination drew condemnation from leaders around the world.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archive, read my report in The Sift on Abe’s resignation.

Onize Oduah

Onize is WORLD’s Africa reporter and deputy global desk chief. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate and earned a journalism degree from Minnesota State University–Moorhead. Onize resides in Abuja, Nigeria.

@onize_ohiks