Tetsuya Yamagami, suspected of killing former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is escorted by a police officer as he is taken to prosecutors, at Nara-nishi police station in Nara, western Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo July 10, 2022. Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERS 

TOKYO (Reuters) - The mother of the man arrested for the killing of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was a member of the Unification Church, the church's Japan head said on Monday.

Tetsuya Yamagami, an unemployed 41-year-old, was identified by police as the suspect who approached Abe and opened fire during a campaign speech on Friday, an attack that was captured on video and shocked a nation where gun violence is rare.

Yamagami believed Abe had promoted a religious group to which his mother made a "huge donation", Kyodo news agency has said, citing investigative sources. Yamagami told police his mother went bankrupt from the donation, the Yomiuri newspaper and other media have reported.

Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the Japan branch of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, told reporters at a briefing in Tokyo that Yamagami's mother was a member of the church.

Tanaka declined to comment on her donations, citing the ongoing police investigation.

Reuters could not determine whether the mother belonged to any other religious organisations.

Police have confirmed that Yamagami held a grudge against a specific organisation, but have not named it.

Neither Abe nor the man arrested for his shooting were members of the church, Tanaka said. Abe was also not an adviser to the church, Tanaka said, adding the church would cooperate with police on the investigation if asked to do so.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Ju-min Park; Editing by David Dolan and Kenneth Maxwell)

Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.

Tags: South Korea, Christianity, crime, Japan