JAPANESE POLICE SAID they have found a number of suspected bullet marks on a building near the site of former prime minister Shinzo Abe’s fatal shooting.

They are apparently from the first shot fired from a suspect’s powerful homemade gun that narrowly missed Mr Abe.

Mr Abe, the country’s longest-serving prime minister who remained influential after stepping down two years ago for health reasons, was shot on Friday during a campaign speech near a crowded train station in Nara, west Japan.

A bullet from a second shot, fired seconds after the first from behind Mr Abe, hit him just as he turned around, apparently in reaction to the initial explosive sound.

The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, was arrested on Friday.

He can be detained for police investigation for up to three weeks before prosecutors decide whether to charge him.

Today, police found several suspected bullet marks in the wall of a building about 90 meters away from the shooting scene.

Police said they believe the bullets, or fragments of the bullets, from the first shot hit the wall after narrowly missing Mr Abe and piercing through an election vehicle parked nearby.

The marks on the wall and in the vehicle match, police said, suggesting they were caused by the same weapon.

Police confiscated the homemade gun the suspect allegedly used to kill Mr Abe.

The taped-up 40cm double-barrel gun, made with two iron pipes, was designed to release several bullets per shot, police said.

Police also allegedly confiscated several other similar weapons from the suspect’s apartment.

Police and Japanese media have alleged the suspected gunman decided to kill Mr Abe after seeing reports about his ties to the Unification Church.

The suspect was allegedly upset because his mother’s massive donations to the church had bankrupted the family.

Mr Abe’s death has shed a light on his and his governing party’s links to the Unification Church, which is known for its conservative and anti-communist stances and its mass weddings.

Tomihiro Tanaka, head of the Japanese branch of the South Korean-based church, confirmed on Monday that Yamagami’s mother was a member.

Mr Tanaka said Mr Abe was not a member but may have spoken to groups affiliated with the church.

Police this week inspected a building related to the church in Nara after the suspect told investigators he had test-fired a homemade gun the day before the shooting to figure out how powerful it would be.

They found several holes in the wall of an unrelated office next door, which the suspect might have believed was part of the church, police said.

Mr Abe’s assassination has shaken Japan, one of the world’s safest nations with some of the strictest gun laws.