Suspect in the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Abe charged with murder

The man who allegedly assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was formally charged Friday with murder.

The defendant, Tetsuya Yamagami, was arrested immediately after Abe's assassination in July 2022.

He was shot while giving a political speech in outside of a train station in western Japan. 

The gun used to kill the 67-year-old former prime minister was handmade, according to reports. 

The Associated Press reported that Yamagami had been in a detention center for a mental evaluation but is now back in police custody. 

Prosecutors say he is fit to stand trial. 

Abe became the prime minister in 2012, but stepped down in 2020 due to health complications. He was the longest-serving prime minister in Japan's history.