Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is dead after being shot on Friday while delivering a stump speech in the western city of Nara two days ahead of a national election, a ruling party source said, according to Kyodo News.
Japan's longest-serving leader was attacked by a 41-year-old man from behind at around 11:30 a.m. when he was speaking in front of Kintetsu Railway's Yamato-Saidaiji Station, police said, adding he collapsed to the ground after two shots were heard. He was rushed to hospital with blood seen on his shirt.
Tetsuya Yamagami, a resident of Nara, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder, the police said. The suspect was formerly a member of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, according to government sources.
"It's not a grudge against the political beliefs of former Prime Minister Abe," the Naha prefectural police quoted Yamagami as saying.
According to the disaster management agency, Abe, who was prime minister until 2020, was also wounded and bleeding on the right side of his neck with internal bleeding confirmed in the left side of his chest.
After returning to his office in Tokyo by helicopter from Yamagata Prefecture where he was campaigning, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the shooting of the 67-year-old former leader "in the strongest possible terms," saying such a barbaric act should never be tolerated.
The assailant's motive is not fully known, he said.
Abe, who was also the longtime leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was in the city to support a candidate running in Sunday's House of Councillors election and there was a crowd of people listening to his speech near the railway station when the attack occurred.
More about:
