The security device has been criticized for being insufficient and for allowing the aggressor to approach the politician
The Japanese police admitted this Saturday that there were failures in the security device deployed in the electoral act the day before where he was assassinated former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
“Given such a serious result, we understand that there were problems in the security,” said Tomoaki Onizuka, the police chief of Nara prefecture, where the attack against the Japanese politician took place while he was offering a rally in the middle of the street.
“We will immediately identify the problem and take the appropriate measures”the police official said of Abe’s security device, which has been criticized for insufficient and for allowing the aggressor to approach the politician and pull out a gun to shoot him twice in the back.
He noted that the problem may have been in “positioning, plan or emergency responseor in the individual capabilities of an agent”, factors that will be analyzed together with others.
The regional police chief also stated that they did not have “no hint” that pointed to the possible attack on the scene, in front of a Nara train station.
He also explained that the specific deployment for Abe’s rally was approved by the local police the day before the eventwhich was when Politician’s attendance confirmedand pointed out that it was done based on national security protocols.
abe was shot while giving a speech before dozens of citizens who surrounded him without any physical barrier or apparent great display of security despite being one of the best-known politicians in the country.
The safety device in these cases is minimal to the naked eye and compared to other countries, because Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the developed world.
The protocols of the Japanese authorities for these cases include the deployment of local police officers and members of the special contingent of the National Security Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
None of the officers present were able to stop Abe’s assailant in time.who approached the politician from behind walking at a slow pace before taking his homemade weapon out of a bag and opening fire on him twice, as can be seen in the images that went viral.
The suspect, a former military man identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, was immobilized after firing his weapon by agents of the aforementioned special service and subsequently arrested.
Onizuka stressed the “urgent need to clarify the whole case” through the investigation of the authorities on an event that he described as “extremely barbaric and inexcusable”.