Shinzo Abe shooting reawakens Japan to 'lone wolf' threat

Few red flags make solo crimes harder to predict and prevent

Tetsuya Yamagami, the man suspected of assassinating Shinzo Abe, is not known to be affiliated with any specific groups. © Kyodo

RYOMA KASHIWAGI, KAORU YAMADA and HITOSHI ITO, Nikkei staff writers

July 13, 2022 01:44 JST

TOKYO -- The assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by a gunman apparently acting on his own underscores the difficulty of preventing such attacks in Japan, where police still focus on organizations despite notable lone-wolf incidents in recent years.