Shinzo Abe assassination | shooter initially planned to attack religious group leader, says police

Tetsuya Yamagami had a grudge against a religious group which he believed was linked to Shinzo Abe

The man who fatally shot former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has told police that he initially planned to attack a leader of a religious group, the Japanese media reported on Saturday, quoting police sources as saying.

Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, has also said he had a grudge against a "specific organisation" -- possibly the religious group -- that he believed was linked to Abe, Kyodo News reported, quoting the police. The religious leader was not identified in the report.

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Abe, 67, died on Friday morning after being shot from behind during an election campaign speech near a train station in the western prefecture of Nara.

Yamagami was arrested at the scene where he was wielding a homemade gun.

Yamagami has denied he committed the crime because he was opposed to Abe's political beliefs, according to the police.

He also did not have a clue about what he wanted to do in life after graduating from high school, and had quit a job two months ago because he felt ‘tired’, The Japan Times newspaper reported.