Abe Shooting Suspect's Classmates: "He Was a Good Student, Quiet and Studious..."

Middle School Classmate: "He was a starter on the basketball team and also good at studying"
High School Classmate: "He wasn't the type to cause trouble"
Shot Abe during campaign on the 8th... Followed him the day before as well

On the 8th, a security guard is trying to restrain Tetsuya Yamagami (right), the suspect who shot former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with a firearm while he was campaigning for the House of Councillors election in front of the Yamato-Saidaiji area in Nara City, Nara Prefecture, Japan.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] Tetsuya Yamagami (41), who shot and killed former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (67), was described by his middle and high school classmates as a quiet honor student during his school days.

According to Japanese media such as NHK on the 9th, Yamagami's middle and high school classmates remembered him as someone who did not cause trouble.

A male classmate from middle school who played basketball with him told NHK, "He gave the impression of being a good student and quiet honor student," adding, "He was not very talkative but had friends, and there was no atmosphere of Yamagami being isolated."

He continued, "He was a central figure in the basketball club and was a starter in his third year. I also remember that he was good at studying and had good grades to enter a prestigious school within the prefecture."

The man explained that "while some students dyed their hair or pierced their ears in the third year of middle school, Yamagami never did such things, and I have never heard that he caused any trouble," expressing great shock upon hearing that Yamagami was the shooter of former Prime Minister Abe.

A classmate who was in the same class in the first year of high school said, "He was a quiet and inconspicuous honor student type in the class and never caused any problems," adding, "I was surprised because I thought he was not the type to cause such an incident."

Yamagami approached former Prime Minister Abe, who was campaigning for a Liberal Democratic Party House of Councillors election candidate in Nara City, Nara Prefecture, the previous day, and shot him from a distance of about 7 to 8 meters with a homemade gun. Abe collapsed on the spot and was transported to the hospital but died from excessive bleeding.

According to media such as Kyodo News and Asahi Shimbun on the 9th, during police questioning, he stated, "My mother was involved in a religious group, which caused resentment. I targeted former Prime Minister Abe because I thought he was connected to that group."

It is known that Yamagami said, "My mother got deeply involved in the religious group and made many donations, which ruined our family life."

Yamagami said on the Liberal Democratic Party website that he learned of former Prime Minister Abe's schedule to campaign for the House of Councillors election in Nara City, Nara Prefecture, on the morning of the 8th and arrived at the crime scene by train.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Yamagami also went to Abe's campaign site in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture, 210 km away from Nara City, on the 7th, the day before the crime, and stated, "I made a gun to kill and followed Abe's campaign sites."

The police seized a homemade gun wrapped in black tape at the crime scene and several homemade guns and explosives at his home. Yamagami told the police, "I bought parts on the internet and made pistols myself. I made many pistols."

He served as a fixed-term member of the Maritime Self-Defense Force from 2002 to 2005, where it was confirmed that he learned rifle shooting and disassembly and assembly. He also worked as a forklift operator in a warehouse in the Kansai region from the fall of 2020 but quit in May this year, saying it was "hard," and is currently unemployed.

An investigation official told Shukan Bunshun, "The gun seized at the scene is a homemade gun measuring 40 cm in length and 20 cm in height, with three barrels, each holding six bullets, so it is by no means something that can be easily made."

The investigation authorities believe that he was not affiliated with any specific political group or violent organization and committed the crime alone. The Mainichi Shimbun analyzed, "There is a possibility that the suspect is a 'lone wolf' type terrorist who used a gun he made himself."