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Bodyguards may have saved Shinzo Abe’s life had they shielded or eliminated him from the road of fireside within the 2½ seconds between a missed first shot and a second spherical of gunfire that fatally wounded him, based on eight safety consultants who reviewed footage of the previous Japanese chief’s assassination.
The failure to guard Abe from the second shot adopted a collection of safety lapses within the lead-up to the assassination of Japan’s longest-serving prime minister on July 8, the Japanese and worldwide consultants mentioned.
Abe’s killing within the western Japanese metropolis of Nara by a person utilizing a home made weapon shocked a nation the place gun violence is uncommon and politicians marketing campaign up near the general public with gentle safety.
Japanese authorities — together with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida — have acknowledged safety lapses, and police say they’re investigating.
Along with the safety consultants, Reuters spoke to 6 witnesses on the scene and examined a number of movies obtainable on-line, taken from totally different angles, to piece collectively an in depth account of safety measures forward of Abe’s capturing.
After leaving 67-year-old Abe uncovered from behind as he spoke on a visitors island on a public street, his safety element allowed the shooter — recognized by police as Tetsuya Yamagami, 41 — to return unchecked inside metres of Abe. Yamagami was carrying a weapon, the footage confirmed.
“They need to have seen the attacker very intentionally strolling towards the rear of the prime minister and intervened,” mentioned Kenneth Bombace, head of International Menace Options, which supplied safety to Joe Biden when he was a presidential candidate.
Yamagami got here inside seven metres of Abe earlier than firing his first shot, which missed, the Yomiuri newspaper mentioned, citing investigative sources. The second shot, which hit Abe, was fired from round 5 metres away, it mentioned.
No ‘rings of safety’
Abe’s bodyguards didn’t seem to have “concentric rings of safety” round him, nor any kind of surveillance within the crowd, mentioned John Soltys, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and CIA officer now a vice-president at safety agency Prosegur.
Requested in regards to the consultants’ evaluation, the Nara Prefectural Police, in command of safety for Abe’s marketing campaign cease, instructed Reuters in an announcement the division was “dedicated to totally figuring out the safety issues” with Abe’s safety, declining to remark additional.
The video footage confirmed that, after the primary shot, Abe turns and appears over his left shoulder. Two bodyguards scramble to get between him and the shooter, one hoisting a slim black bag. Two others head towards the shooter, who strikes nearer by way of the smoke.
Though Abe’s safety tackled the assailant moments later and arrested him, it was the “improper response” for a few of the safety to go after the shooter as an alternative of transferring to guard Abe, mentioned Mitsuru Fukuda, a Nihon College professor specializing in disaster administration and terrorism.
There was sufficient safety, “however no sense of hazard,” mentioned Yasuhiro Sasaki, a retired police officer in Saitama prefecture close to Tokyo.
“Everybody was startled and nobody went to the place Abe was,” he mentioned.
The Nationwide Police Company, which oversees native police forces, mentioned Abe’s killing was the results of the police failures. In response, the company mentioned it has arrange a group to assessment safety and safety measures and to think about concrete steps to stop such a critical incident from recurring.
“We acknowledge that there have been issues,” the company mentioned in response to Reuters questions. “Not solely within the on-site response, such because the safety and safety set-up, deployment of personnel and elementary safety procedures, but additionally in the best way the Nationwide Police Company was concerned.”
Reuters couldn’t attain Yamagami, who stays in police custody, for remark and couldn’t decide whether or not he had a lawyer.
‘Might have been prevented’
Footage exhibits 4 bodyguards contained in the guardrails as Abe spoke, based on Koichi Ito, a former sergeant on the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Division’s particular assault group, who’s now a safety marketing consultant. The variety of bodyguards was corroborated by native politician Masahiro Okuni, who was on the scene.
When the previous prime minister stepped as much as converse, Yamagami may very well be seen in video footage clapping within the background.
As Yamagami walked up behind Abe, safety didn’t seem to take motion, the footage confirmed.
Abe ought to have had a devoted shut safety bodyguard to get him away, mentioned a member of the U.S. Diplomatic Safety Service, which protects senior diplomats and international dignitaries.
“We might seize him by the belt and collar, defend him with our physique and transfer away,” the agent mentioned.
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Ito, the previous police sergeant, mentioned safety may have stopped the primary shot had they been vigilant and speaking.
“Even when they missed that, there was a greater than two-second window earlier than the second shot, so that they positively may have prevented that,” he mentioned. “If Abe had been protected correctly, it may have been prevented.”
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