Japanese police chief resigns from post to assassinate former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe | World News

Japan’s police chief will resign following the shooting death of former prime minister Shinzo Abe at a campaign speech last month.

Mr. Abe, the country’s longest serving prime minister, shot dead on July 8 in the western city of Nara.

He suffered two deep wounds to his neck that damaged an artery and died a few hours later in hospital. He is 67 years old.

National police chief Itaru Nakamura, who said he would step down from responsibility, is the most senior official to resign in connection with Mr Abe’s assassination – the first by a former Japanese prime minister in years. 1930.

“In order to fundamentally re-examine the sentry and never let this happen, we need a new system,” Mr. Nakamura said when announcing his intention to quit.

The announcement came as his agency released a report that it was unable to save Mr. Abe’s life.

The report found loopholes in Abe’s police protection, including ones that allowed the alleged attacker to shoot him from behind.

Nara City police chief, Tomoaki Onizuka, also announced his resignation on Thursday.

Experts said security at the event was severely flawed and that Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, were blame the police.

The alleged gunman, Tetsuya Yamagami, was arrested at the scene and is currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation until the end of November.

Mr. Nakamura did not say when his resignation would take effect, but it is expected to be adopted at a cabinet meeting on Friday.