Tokyo: The national police chief of Japan announced on Thursday that he will step down in order to take responsibility for the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
National Police Agency chief Itaru Nakamura’s announcement comes as his agency released a report on how it failed to save Abe’s life on July 8 when he was assassinated at a campaign speech in Nara in western Japan, Fox News reported.
Nakamura did not say when his resignation would be official.
The police report found holes in Abe’s police protection that allowed the alleged attacker to shoot him from behind.
The alleged gunman, Tetsuya Yamagami, was arrested at the scene and is currently under mental evaluation until late November.
Yamagami told police that he targeted Abe because of the former leader’s link to the Unification Church, which he hated.
It is suspected that the weapon used to shoot Abe was a homemade firearm as it gave off a large amount of smoke after it was fired.
Abe was the longest-serving prime minister for Japan and held the post for eight consecutive years beginning in 2012.
