The last known successful assassination of a world leader was the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022. Abe was shot with a homemade firearm during a campaign speech and died shortly after from his injuries. This event was internationally shocking, highlighting vulnerabilities even in countries with strict gun control laws.
In the United States, the most recent successful assassination of a president was John F. Kennedy in 1963, who was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald during a motorcade in Dallas, Texas.
More recent assassination attempts, such as the July 2024 shooting incident against former U.S. President Donald Trump, were not successful in killing the target, though they caused injuries to the former president and others.
Thus, the most recent confirmed successful assassination of a major political figure, globally, is that of Shinzo Abe in 2022.
