Shinzo Abe, Former Japanese Prime Minister, Is Shot
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•He was delivering a speech in the western Japanese city of Nara when he was shot by a 41-year-old gunman; broadcaster NHK said a male suspect has been detained
•Abe was twice prime minister, including from 2012 to 2020 – an eight-year stint that was the longest uninterrupted tenure for a post-war Japanese leader
Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe has been taken to hospital bleeding after collapsing while delivering a speech in the city of Nara in western Japan.
In a hastily organised press conference, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said doctors were “working very hard to save Mr Abe” and condemned the shooting as a “heinous, barbaric” act.
“Many people have the same feeling with me – that this cannot be totally tolerated. I want to use the strongest words to condemn this act,” a visibly emotional Kishida told reporters. “I would like to first to pray that Prime Minister Abe will survive this and that his life will be saved.”
Police said a 41-year-old man suspected of carrying out the shooting in the western city of Nara had been arrested.
“Former prime minister Abe was shot at around 11.30am in Nara. One man, believed to be the shooter, has been taken into custody. The condition of former prime minister Abe is currently unknown,” chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters in a briefing held before Kishida met reporters.
“Whatever the reason, such a barbaric act can never be tolerated, and we strongly condemn it,” Matsuno added.
“A local fire department says former prime minister Abe appears to be in a state of cardio-respiratory arrest,” public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo said – a term used in Japan before a feared death can be confirmed by a doctor.
Several media outlets reported that he appeared to have been shot from behind, although NHK said Abe appeared to be shot in the chest. Police identified the suspected shooter as Tetsuya Yamagami, a resident of Nara. NHK said the shooter, arrested for attempted murder, used a “hand-made gun”. Kyodo reported he was a former member of the Self-Defence Forces.
Abe, 67, was shot while he was standing and making an election campaign speech ahead of Sunday’s election for the parliament’s upper house.
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