Tetsuya Yamagami (above) has already been indicted on murder and other charges in the fatal shooting of Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe. - AFP
NARA, Japan, Feb 14 (The Japan News/ANN): The Japanese authorities on Monday filed additional charges against Tetsuya Yamagami, the suspect in the fatal shooting of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, according to local police in Nara where the shooting took place.
The latest move is expected to conclude the investigation into the high-profile shooting.
The additional charges include violations of the Ordnance Manufacturing Law and damage to property, police said. Yamagami, 42, has already been indicted on murder and other charges in the incident in which Abe was fatally shot while delivering a stump speech in Nara.
Police confirmed that the gun used in the shooting and several other guns seized from Yamagami’s residence had lethal capabilities, after analysing their structure.
As fertiliser and other materials used to make gunpowder were also found, the police deemed that Yamagami violated laws by making a gun and damaging a building by test-firing it.
During investigations, the police also found six holes believed to have been made by bullets on the exterior wall of a building in Nara that houses a facility affiliated with the Unification Church, officially known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.
Investigators said Yamagami told them he had fired a home-made gun before dawn on July 7, 2022, one day before the fatal shooting of Abe.
Based on footage from security cameras in the vicinity and other factors, the police charged Yamagami on suspicion of damaging the building.
Yamagami, a former employee of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force, was previously indicted on charges of murder and violation of the Firearms and Swords Control Law on Jan 13, in the killing of Mr Abe using a home-made gun near Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara on July 8.
When Abe was shot, he was delivering a stump speech for a Liberal Democratic Party candidate while campaigning for a House of Councillors election. - The Japan News/ANN
