Japan prime minister shot

The trainee, who was not identified, joined the Self-Defense Forces in April. The victims were the soldiers training him, Yasunori Morishita, chief of staff of the Ground Self-Defense Force, said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. All shooting exercises were halted Wednesday at Self-Defense Forces facilities after the incident.

Read more Tetsuya Yamagami had been due to appear at Nara District Court for an afternoon hearing over Abe's broad-daylight shooting that shocked the world in July last year. But the building was evacuated and the session cancelled after a suspicious item, reportedly a cardboard box addressed to Yamagami, was delivered to the court. Authorities later confirmed the box contained documents and was not dangerous, having taken it to an open area for a bomb squad to investigate, Jiji Press and other outlets said. Police and the court did not immediately confirm details when contacted by AFP. Yamagami, 42, faces charges of murder and violation of arms control laws, and could face the death penalty if convicted. He reportedly targeted Abe -- Japan's best-known politician and longest-serving prime minister -- over his ties to the Unification Church, the global sect whose members are sometimes referred to as "Moonies". The suspect is believed to have resented the church over large donations his mother made that bankrupted his family. Abe died after being shot with an apparently homemade gun while speaking at a campaign event in Nara. The circumstances of the assassination have caused scrutiny of what authorities admitted were security shortcomings, and led to the resignation of Japan's police chief. Before Monday's cancelled hearing, Yamagami underwent a psychiatric assessment that ended in January. Tetsuya Yamagami, pictured here in July 2022, was due to appear for his first pre-t...

An 18-year-old military recruit has been detained after he shot and killed two fellow soldiers and wounded a third at a training range in central “During a live-bullet exercise as part of new personnel training, one Self-Defense Force candidate fired at three personnel,” the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) said in a statement. The 18-year-old, who joined the military in April, was detained on the spot by other soldiers, said the GSDF chief of staff, Yasunori Morishita. “This kind of incident is absolutely unforgivable for an organisation tasked with handling weapons, and I take it very seriously,” Morishita said. He said the three victims had been tasked with training new recruits, including the attacker, at the range in the city of Gifu. Earlier in the day, a local police spokesperson said the suspect, whose identity was being withheld, had been charged with attempted murder. The cadet “fired a rifle at the victim with the intent to kill”, they said. The national broadcaster NHK reported that one fatality was a 52-year-old supervisor, while the other, and the injured soldier, were both aged 25. The suspect was quoted by NHK as telling investigators that he had aimed at the supervisor, but shot the younger victim first because he was standing in his way. Aerial footage broadcast by the station showed military and civilian personnel gathered around an emergency vehicle and police blocking nearby roads. Some appeared to be investigators, wearing covers over their shoes and ...