Shinzo Abe’s alleged assassin pictured behind him just before killing

A chilling image taken moments before Shinzo Abe was shot shows his alleged killer lurking behind him.

A chilling photo has emerged of the moment Shinzo Abe’s suspected killer casually stood behind him just before allegedly shooting the former Japanese Prime Minister.

The image shows Mr Abe — who was Japan’s longest-serving leader — starting a campaign rally speech in the western region of Nara, smiling as those around him clap.

Standing just feet behind the leader, 67, is an innocent-looking masked man wearing military-style pants and with a bag slung around his back, The New York Post reports.

Within minutes of the politician starting his speech, that same man — identified as disgruntled 41-year-old veteran Tetsuya Yamagami — snuck closer to Mr Abe and allegedly shot him in an attack that sparked immediate condemnation from leaders around the world.

Mr Abe was later pronounced dead.

Shinzo Abe was captured with the man suspected of shooting him behind him (right, in cargo pants). Picture: Toshiharu Otani/JIJI PRESS/AFP

Footage of the moment shows Mr Abe, dressed in a navy blue suit, raising his fist during his impassioned speech — with the camera then shaking away as two loud shots boom out.

The video then shows Mr Abe collapse on the street, with security guards running toward him. He holds his chest, his shirt smeared with blood.

In the next moment, security guards leap on top of the same man who just moments earlier was pictured behind the politician, tackling him face down on the pavement.

A large double-barrelled device is seen nearby on the ground. It appears to be a home handmade gun, explaining how Mr Abe could have been shot in a country with some of the strictest gun laws in the world.

The former prime minister was flown to a hospital for emergency treatment but was not breathing and his heart had stopped.

Security police tackle to arrest the suspect believed to have shot former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Picture: The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images

Doctors struggled to save Mr Abe, but he died at 5:03pm local time, about five and a half hours after being shot.

He bled to death from two deep wounds, one on the right side of his neck, a doctor told a nationally televised news conference. The former leader had no vital signs when he was brought in.

It was the first assassination of a sitting or former Japanese premier since the days of pre-war militarism in 1936.

Shinzo Abe was shot in Nara, Japan. Picture: NHK News/ABC News

Nara prefectural police confirmed the arrest of Yamagami on suspicion of attempted murder.

NHK reported that the suspect served in the Maritime Self-Defense Force for three years in the 2000s and that he told police he “was frustrated with the former prime minister and targeted Mr Abe with the intention of killing him.”

This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission