Fergal Schmudlach
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Shotgun Blues: The Abe Assassination
🕑 Added 2022-07-13 02:59:55 +0000 UTC“According to the hospital, there were two bullet holes in the right front side of Mr. Abe’s neck, spaced about five centimeters apart. It appears that the bullets went into his body from his neck, damaging his heart and the large arteries in his chest. Doctors say a large hole had been opened in the wall of his heart. On his left shoulder there was one wound which seemed to be from a bullet that had pierced through his body. They say no bullets were recovered from inside his body.” Asahi Newspaper report on the doctors’ press conference: https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ7864WZQ78PTIL02W.html
Press Conference on the Death of ABE Shinzō
FUKUSHIMA Hidetada
Professor of Emergency Medicine
Nara Prefectural University Hospital
2022/7/8, 6:00 PM
Translated by Fergal SCHMUDLACH of the Kingless Generation podcast
Fukushima: When he arrived he had two bullet wounds, and considering that he was not breathing and had no pulse due to damage to the heart and the aorta, in our unit we performed hemostasis and a large amount of blood transfusions, but unfortuntely the result was—not fortunate.
Yomiuri Newspaper: You say he had two wounds on his neck. Could you tell us where and how big, specifically?
Fukushima: (pointing to his throat) The two wounds were located in the center and slightly to the right. They were extremely small in size.
Kansai TV: Could you tell us how deep they were?
Fukushima: I think it’s safe to say that they went deep enough to reach the heart.
…
NHK: What did you feel, to see those bullet holes, fired from such close range: did you feel a strong intent to kill, or…?
Fukushima: All I saw was the wounds I saw, so I don’t know anything about that.
ABC TV: What sort of operations, specifically, were being carried out during the four and a half hours from the time he was brought in until his death was confirmed?
Fukushima: Hemostasis of the chest area, and a large amount of blood transfusions: these two things.
…
Asahi Newspaper: Were the bullets still in the body?
Fukushima: When we were operating on him, we were unable to find bullets. After that, we—um, after this we may go on to learn more, but in the course of our operations we didn’t find anything.
NHK: Of the two wounds, which one was the fatal one?
Fukushima: That I do not know. All I know is that there were two wounds which seemed to be bullet holes.
NHK: So all we know is that he died from these wounds.
Fukushima: Those wounds, as I just said, did reach to his heart and his aorta in his chest area, and so he was bleeding due to his heart and his aorta being wounded: this is essentially what happened.
Nikkei Newspaper: Two wounds—to his neck? Not his chest? His neck?
Fukushima: To his neck.
Nikkei: But they hit his heart so—
Fukushima: (tracing a line from above his right clavicle diagonally down and to the left to his heart) I believe this was the direction in which they travelled.
…
NHK: So as for the main cause which led to his death, would it be death by loss of blood?
Fukushima: Exsanguination, I believe that is correct.
NHK: You say the bullets reached his heart, but as you were—operating, did you notice organ damage, like, was the organ damage severe?
Fukushima: There was a wound to the heart itself, a large one.
NHK: And what shape was that wound, specifically?
Fukushima: Maybe—the bullet wound in his heart was, it was a big hole: a big hole in the wall of his heart.
NHK: How would that hole compare to—other things?
Fukushima: I wasn’t comparing this to anything else, really—I’m given to understand that the internal wounds get bigger than the entrance wound.
Chūnichi Newspaper: So you say the bullets reached his heart, into his heart, and the bullet holes were in his neck, two of them. You say you didn’t find any bullets, but were there any wounds on the other side, in his back, from the bullets piercing through his body?
Fukushima: There was just one other wound, on his left shoulder, so I believe that would be what is called an exit wound.
NHK: And that’s one, on his left shoulder?
Fukushima: That is correct.
NHK: You’re saying that one of the two may have pierced through, out that hole.
Fukushima: Yes.
NHK: You’re saying that there is no wound from which the other one might have come out?
Fukushima: No such wound. Not that we found.
NHK: And neither of the bullets have been found?
Fukushima: No.
…
ABC TV: Were the wounds close together? How were they positioned, exactly?
Fukushima: I believe they were about 5 cm apart.
…
Chūnichi: It’s said that he was attacked from behind, but are you saying that the wounds were on the front of his body?
Fukushima: Yes. On the front of his neck. He had no wounds on the reverse, including his back.
Chūnichi: So both shots entered from the front, and are you saying one came out the left side?
Fukushima: I said he was hit in the front, but the angle at which he was hit is a separate—it could have been from the side. (points to the center of his neck) But the wounds were in the front.
Chūnichi: And the apparent exit wound, was that on the back side of his left shoulder?
Fukushima: It was on the front [ventral] part of his left shoulder.
Chūnichi: But then it must have traveled sideways across the body—
Fukushima: I don’t know that; all I can say is that there were wounds that might make you think that.
Chūnichi: But anyway it was on the front, the wound?
Fukushima: Yes.
Asahi Weekly: So you say that the wound goes in from the front and comes out the front on the left, and there was a large hole in his heart, so did it hit his heart and come out the left?
Fukushima: The one that came out the left could have been from the second shot, or the first, or maybe a—different bullet. I really don’t know.
Asahi Weekly: Either way, there was a large hole in his heart. What part of the heart was it?
Fukushima: In a ventricle. The wall of the heart.
…
NHK: Do you know if the bullets passed through the right or left ventricle, or which arteries it went through?
Fukushima: Bullets can move around here and there as they travel through the body, so I’m not sure at this point in time exactly how they moved.
NHK: So at this point in time it looks as though the bullet entered through one of the two holes in the neck, ultimately striking the heart, and then they each went out through the shoulder hole: is that a good characterization?
Fukushima: At this point that is my opinion, but a specialist might come to a different conclusion.
…
Kyōdō Broadcasting: I apologize, but I just want to check: so there were two wounds on the front of Prime Minister Abe’s neck, and no wounds on the back of his neck, and on his shoulder there was what appeared to be an exit wound. Is that a good characterization?
Fukushima: That is my understanding at this point in time.
…
Chūnichi Newspaper: I’m sorry to repeat this, but: by “his neck”, do you mean the bullets entered from above the clavicle?
Fukushima: They entered at a height above the clavicle, yes.
Chūnichi Newspaper: Was there any damage or anything to the clavicle itself?
Fukushima: Not to the clavicle, I don’t think, no.
…
