The politician was shot by a former member of the Japanese troops when he was at an electoral event
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest after apparently being hit with shotgun fire during an electoral act this Friday, local authorities reported today.
Abe was transferred by ambulance and later by helicopter after the incident and the health services are trying to recover his vital signs, according to the police and health services of the city of Nara (western Japan), where the attack took place.
The former Japanese president he was shot in the back while giving a campaign speech on the street near a train station in the aforementioned town, according to local police, who has arrested a man as the alleged perpetrator of the attack. He is a former member of the Japanese troops. Eyewitnesses to the attack affirm that two shots were heard at the scene and that Abe then collapsed to the ground, according to the state network NHK, while some citizens captured and uploaded to social networks images of the politician being treated on the land. Health services are transferring the former prime minister to a hospital in the city of Kashihara, south of Nara, to try to save his life.
The incident occurred around 11:30 local time this Friday (2:30 GMT) and in the presence of numerous citizens who were attending the campaign event or were walking near the Yamato-Saidaiji station. Abe stepped down as prime minister for health reasons in September 2020, after becoming the longest-serving Japanese politician in the post. The conservative leader was today at a campaign event for the partial elections to the Upper House of the Diet (Parliament of Japan) that are held this Sunday, in which the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) of Abe and the current prime minister , Fumio Kishida, hopes to revalidate his vast majority.
Election rallies are usually held in Japan in the middle of the street and with few security measures, due to the low rate of crime and attacks with firearms typical of the Asian country.
condemnation of japan
The Government of Japan condemned the attack. “This barbarism cannot be forgivenregardless of the person’s reason, so we strongly condemn it and will do our best to help,” Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said.
Matsuno did not provide further information on the state of health of the former president, who according to the ambulance service, would be in cardiorespiratory arrest and was transferred to a hospital after the incident to try to recover his vital signs.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has canceled his election schedule and is on his way to Tokyo where he is expected to address the press.
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Japan’s former Interior and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi also condemned the attack, saying she hopes Abe is alive and “does not condone political terrorism,” while Satoshi Nakanishi, defense minister at Abe’s time, said ” terrorism and violence must not be condoned”.
“We are saddened and shocked by the shooting of the former prime minister. Abe has been an outstanding leader for Japan and a steadfast ally of the United States,” said US Ambassador to Tokyo Rahm Emanuel.
The detainee is a former member of the Japanese troops
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Japanese police today identified Yamagami Tetsuya, a 41-year-old unemployed man and former member of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces (Japanese Army), as the alleged aggressor. Tetsuya, from the city of Nara, in western Japan, was arrested for attempted murder while holding a weapon with which he would have shot the former Japanese president twice.
According to Japanese Defense Ministry sources, the alleged attackr worked in the naval branch of the Self-Defense Forcesresponsible for the defense of the archipelago, for three years until 2005.