'It was just shock.' Local reaction to the assassination of Japan's former leader

Washington state has one of the country’s largest populations of Japanese Americans. Many, including Megumi Ijiri, were shaken by the news of Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s assassination Friday in western Japan.

"It was just shock," Ijiri said. She said she just returned from a trip to Japan.

With all of the gun violence in the United States, Ijiri said she felt safe in Japan. She said she was proud of the country's “no-gun culture.”

Ijiri explained that it was unbelievable that "a handmade gun can kill a former prime minister on TV. That was a shock to me."

Ijiri said she also was ashamed that gun violence would happen in her motherland, a place she considered safe and peaceful.