Shinzo Abe, 67

The whole world was shocked to hear that former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot and died en route to the hospital. He had no known enemies. The shooting is more shocking considering the very strict laws Japan has regarding gun ownership, making shooting incidents very rare. Unlike America where mass shootings are common because of the ease of buying guns and ammunition. Recently 19 people including 17 students were killed at a school in Uvalde, Texas, by another radicalized individual thinker. Politicians on both sides of the aisle even capitalized on the mass shootings for their respective campaigns.

Due to the rarity of such crimes, Abe's assigned security seemed to be complacent in guarding him as he gave his speech. Compare that to the security details of Duterte and now Marcos and another Duterte with her own VPSPG. Tetsuya Yamagami approached the stage where Abe was speaking and shot him with what looked like a homemade gun. Based on the tubes of the weapon I would surmise shotgun shells were its ammunition. Two gunshots were heard in the video before he was tackled by police. Abe's murder was planned. The reason is not yet known but Yamagami himself said he was very angry with a group Abe was thought to be a member of. Is this a case of a mistaken target? Did wrong information cost Abe his life? The Nara police chief admitted they had serious shortcomings. Compare that to officers in Uvalde, Texas, who made up a different accounting of events to prevent criticism of how they handled the shooting. Fortunately, their deception was exposed.

Many leaders offered prayers and condolences on Abe's passing. He became friends with many leaders, including former presidents Noynoy Aquino and Rodrigo Duterte. One of the things he did was to ramp up defense spending and he strengthened relations with Japan’s allies because of the actions of China and North Korea. I was shown a video of a nightclub in China celebrating Abe's passing with videos of the fallen leader while people danced. I’m not surprised. Abe shifted his stance on China’s claims on the South China Sea particularly the Senkaku Islands.

This incident will change how the police and security detail guard the current and former leaders of Japan. The incident also shows if one is determined enough to kill a person, he will find ways to succeed. If something like this happens in non-gun-crazy Japanese culture, what more in a country such as the US?