A firearms expert suggests that the homemade gun used in the fatal shooting of former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo may have been as lethal as an ordinary shotgun.

Abe was shot while making a campaign speech on Friday. The suspect, 41-year-old Yamagami Tetsuya, was arrested on the spot.

Police investigating the shooting on Wednesday confirmed what appear to be holes made by projectiles in a wall some 90 meters away from where the suspect fired his gun.

Firearms expert Tsuda Tetsuya told NHK that taking into account media reports and videos filmed at the site, the suspect seems to have used cartridges that fire a number of pellets at once.

Tsuda said shotguns have a firing range of about 100 meters, and pellets they discharge travel in a uniform direction with lethal force.

He said the pellets the suspect made are apparently the size typically used to gun down large animals, such as bears, and are far more lethal than a bullet fired from a pistol.

He says people near Abe could have been wounded.

The suspect reportedly told police that he watched online videos to learn how to make the firearm.