Abe, 67, was delivering a stump speech near a train station in the western city of Nara when he was shot by an assailant
\n NARA
\nJapan\u2019s former Prime Minister (PM) Shinzo Abe, the country\u2019s longest-serving leader, has been died on Friday afternoon, after he was shot at a campaign event during speech.
\n\u201cShinzo Abe was transported to the hospital at 12:20pm. He was in a state of cardiac arrest upon arrival. Resuscitation was administered. However, unfortunately he died at 5:03pm,\u201d said Hidetada Fukushima, professor of emergency medicine at Nara Medical University hospital.
\nAbe, 67, was delivering a speech with security present, but spectators successfully approached him to shot.
\nNHK quoted the suspect, identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, has since been taken into custody. He told the police that he was dissatisfied with Abe and wanted to kill him.
\nThe suspect opened fire on Abe from behind with an apparently homemade gun as he spoke at a drab traffic island in the western city of Nara, Japanese media showed earlier.
\nFootage broadcast by NHK showed Abe standing on a stage when a loud blast was heard with smoke visible in the air.
\nSecurity officials were then seen tackling a man in a grey T-shirt and beige trousers.
\nIt was the first assassination of a sitting or former Japanese premier since the days of prewar militarism in the 1930s.
\nNara emergency services said he had been wounded on the right side of his neck and left clavicle.
\nHis brother, Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi, had said earlier that Abe was getting blood transfusions.
\nSpeaking before Abe\u2019s death was announced, incumbent Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the shooting in the \u201cstrongest terms\u201d while Japanese people and world leaders expressed shock at the violence in a country in which political violence is rare and guns are tightly controlled.
\n\u201cFormer Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot in Nara and I have been informed he is in a very grave condition,\u201d PM Kishida had told reporters after arriving in Tokyo by helicopter from the campaign trail.
\n\u201cIt is a barbaric act during election campaigning, which is the foundation of democracy, and it is absolutely unforgivable. I condemn this act in the strongest terms.\u201d
\nThe attack had taken place shortly before noon in the country\u2019s western region of Nara, and \u201cone man, believed to be the shooter, has been taken into custody\u201d, government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno earlier told reporters.
\nSeveral media outlets described 41-year-old Yamagami as a former member of the Maritime Self-Defence Force, the country\u2019s navy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Abe, 67, was delivering a stump speech near a train station in the western city of Nara when he was shot by an assailant NARA Japan\u2019s former Prime Minister (PM) Shinzo Abe, the country\u2019s longest-serving leader, has been died on Friday afternoon, after he was shot at a campaign event during speech. \u201cShinzo Abe was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-270570","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n