Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Shot During Speech | NOW

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was gunned down Friday while giving a speech in the Japanese city of Nara. The politician was taken to hospital in very serious condition. The alleged gunman, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

The 67-year-old former head of government was shot from behind around 11:30 a.m. (local time). A reporter from the Japanese broadcaster NHK reports that two shots were heard. Abe would have been hit in the back and in the neck. The shooter used a homemade firearm.

According to Kyodo Abe is unconscious and appears to be in “cardiac arrest”. This term is often used in Japan when a patient appears to have died. Other Japanese media report that Abe has shown no signs of life since he was shot.

The Japanese television channel Fuji News Network reports that the arrested suspect was a member of the Japanese navy until 2005. The man lives in Nara, in the south of the Japanese island of Honsu. According to NHK Yamagami is said to have told the police that he was unhappy with Abe and that he wanted to kill the ex-Prime Minister.

Abe was in Nara to support election candidate

The former prime minister was in Nara on Friday to support an LDP candidate who is running in Japan’s Senate elections next Sunday. He addressed voters from a mounted podium on a campaign van. The demonstration took place near a train station.

Abe was Prime Minister of Japan from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2020. At the end of August 2020, he announced his resignation due to health problems. Abe was also the longtime leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

The current Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, has now aborted his election campaign and is on his way to the capital Tokyo, various local media report. His government has formed a crisis team.

Political violence is rare in Japan. The country also has strict gun regulations. In 2007, the mayor of Nagasaki was shot dead by a Japanese mobster. In 1960, the head of the Japanese Socialist Party was killed in an assassination attempt with a samurai sword.