Police operations in Japan are facing major changes due to the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The news agency Reuters asked the views of Japanese security experts about the mistakes in Abe’s guarding.
The main ones have been collected in this article.
1. The campaign truck would have brought security
The stage of the campaign event was open.
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke into a microphone from a low podium on an open street in the city of Nara. The closest spectators were right in front of him. The suspected shooter was standing about seven meters behind 67-year-old Abe.
– If a campaign truck had been used, the cell would have been secured and it would have been easier for the bodyguards to monitor the environment 360 degrees in all directions, says the professor Mitsuru Fukuda from Tokyo’s Nihon University.
A professor familiar with terrorism says that the truck is often used in election speeches. According to him, obtaining the truck in this case was the responsibility of either the election organization of Abe’s LDP party or Abe’s security team.
2. There were shortcomings in the division of tasks
The division of duties between the bodyguards and the police was unclear.
A dozen police officers were present at the former prime minister’s speech.
Two bullets were fired at Shinzo Abe. One missed and the other hit Abe in the back. The shot fired from about five meters away was fatal. Abe died of blood loss.
– If every member of the security team had understood their task and observed the environment calmly, even the first shot could have been prevented, the security consultant estimates Koichi Ito.
The bodyguards did not react, although the suspected perpetrator Tetsuya Yamagami gradually moved to the firing line just behind the former prime minister’s back.
There was 2.5 seconds between the first and second shots. According to consultant Ito, it would have been possible to react the fastest in this time as well.
3. Movement was not restricted
Movement at the campaign event was free.
Koichi Ito, a former member of the police tactical forces, says that the lack of control over the movement of people was perhaps the most serious flaw in the security arrangements.
– The negative things came together in the most unpleasant way possible, says Koichi Ito.
Communication between the former prime minister’s police convoy and local authorities was also lacking.
4. The bodyguards rushed to subdue the shooter
Abe was left unprotected on the street as almost all the security guards ran after the suspect.
There were four bodyguards near the Prime Minister, inside the guardrails.
Only one guard remained at the scene of the shooting. Abe, lying on the ground, was not protected in any way. In theory, this left a wide open target for a potential accomplice to continue shooting.
– The bodyguards had no idea of the danger, even though there was a sufficient number of them. Hindsight is hindsight, but instinct can sometimes help in crisis situations, says a former police officer specialized in guarding dignitaries Yasuhiro Sakaki.
After the first shot, the former prime minister turned and looked over his left shoulder. The video shows two bodyguards trying to rush between the shooter and the victim. One guard raises a thin black briefcase. The other two run towards the gunman who approaches them through the smoke.
According to the assessment of the American consultants consulted in the safety assessment, the injured person’s bleeding should be stopped with a belt, for example, and the target should be transported from the shooting site to shelter immediately. The Japanese focused on providing first aid at the scene.
5. The backgrounds of the personnel of the Self-Defense Forces should have been investigated more closely
The suspected shooter has served in the Japanese navy in the 2000s.
A direct connection to his background in the self-defense forces has not been established. For example, in the navy, the backgrounds of those seeking service will be investigated in more detail in the future.
41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami watched the prime minister’s speech and clapped along with the others for a while before he started shooting.
The police have obtained an e-mail sent by Yamagami to a journalist, in which he describes his bitterness and his mother’s extravagance. According to Yamagami, his family ran into financial difficulties because his mother donated large sums of money to a group called the Unification Church.
In the page-long message, the suspect says that Abe is not his main target, but a supporter of a group he holds a grudge against. He hints that the actual target might be members of the church’s founding family.
Yamagami has said that he tested the weapon at least twice, in the mountains and at the local facilities of the Unification Church.
Yamagami is said to have said in his letter that he does not have the strength to think about the consequences of Abe’s death.