Suspect in Japan’s Former PM Shinzo Abe’s Assassination Charged With Murder

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to media after the summit between the United States and North Korea in Singapore, at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on June 12, 2018. Issei Kato/Reuters

A Japanese man suspected of shooting Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022 was charged with murder and firearms law violations on Friday after undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

Tetsuya Yamagami, 42, was charged with the murder of Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader. Abe was shot and killed during a campaign speech in Japan’s western city of Nara on July 8, 2022. Police arrested Yamagami on the spot.