Shinzo Abe's shooter Tetsuya Yamagami believed ex-PM associated with religious group

Ex-Japanese PM Shinzo Abe was assassinated on Friday while speaking at a political rally in the western city of Nara.  An unemployed 41-year old man has said he carried out the killing using a homemade gun.

Back at the junction where the small rally is taking place, a 41-year-old man named by police as Tetsuya Yamagami is standing just meters away.  In his bag a homemade shotgun.

Shinzo Abe has been speaking for about a minute when he's approached from behind.  Two shots ring out.  Mr. Abe was hit in the neck.  His security rush at the gunman who dropped his weapon on the ground behind him.  Police later confirmed that it's some sort of improvised homemade weapon.  

Mr. Abe is taken by ambulance to a park where he is transferred to a waiting helicopter.

Five hours later Shinzo Abe was declared dead.  The hospital made efforts to revive Mr. Abe but unfortunately he passed away at 5:03pm.  There were two bullet wounds in his neck.  He was showing no signs of life presumably due to damage to his major blood vessels and heart.

The gunman is reported to have been a member of the Japanese Maritime Self-defense force, the country's version of a navy under its pacifist post-war constitution.

According to Japanese media, citing police sources, Mr. Yamagami told investigators he believed Mr. Abe was linked to a religious group he blamed for his mother's bankruptcy and breaking up their family. He told police that his mother made a "huge donation" to the religious group.

Kyodo news reported that a day after the assassination of Ex-PM Abe, one of the sources quoted Tetsuya Yamagami as saying something to the effect of "initially, I intended to attack an executive of the group" but decided to target Abe instead.

The killer told police he studied Mr. Abe’s schedule online as he built weapons in order to kill him.  Homemade weapons were found at his apartment in the city.    

This anguish in Japan is clearly reverberating around the world.  As the country mourns people are asking about the security and how such a high-profile politician who is also quite divisive in Japan was allowed to just campaign on the street with only a few security guards whether or not those bodyguards acted quickly enough because Japan just isn't used to gun crimes.

Body of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe returns to Tokyo home.

He was a very famous well-known politician not just in Japan but also outside as well.  He was the longest-serving Prime Minister of Japan and has become somewhat of a face of Japan's politics.

His body was brought back at his home on Saturday all the way from the city of Nara where he was assassinated.

Shortly after his body returned, the current Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida as well as government officials visited to pay respects.