The suspect in the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the weapon he used was homemade, Nara Nishi police told a news conference on Friday.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, admitted to shooting Abe, police said. Yamagami, who is unemployed, told investigators he holds hatred toward a certain group that he thought Abe was linked to. Police have not named the group.
The weapon was a gun-like item that measured 40 centimeters (about 16 inches) long and 20 centimeters wide, police said.
Yamagami made multiple types of guns with iron pipes that were wrapped in adhesive tape, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported, citing the police. The police found guns with three, five, and six iron pipes as barrels.
The suspect inserted bullets in the pipe, which he had bought parts for online, police said, according to NHK. Police believe the suspect used the strongest weapon he made in the assassination, NHK added.
Abe was fatally shot while making a campaign speech in the streets of Nara prefecture on Friday morning. His death has shocked Japan, a nation with one of the lowest rates of gun crime in the world.