Shinzo Abe, a former Japanese prime minister, was shot in the chest on Friday at a political event. The incident shocked a country where gun violence is uncommon, leaving Abe unconscious and unresponsive.
According to a representative of his governing Liberal Democratic Party, broadcaster NTV said that Abe, 67, was shot twice from behind while running for office in the western city of Nara on Sunday. A local man in his 40s was detained by police.
Shinzo Abe in "Severe Condition"
NHK published two recordings that appeared to show gun smoke rising from behind Abe as he spoke and a security guard tackling a man on the street shortly after. According to local firefighters, Abe was taken to a hospital right away and may have experienced a cardiac arrest.
Fumio Kishida, the prime minister, and other cabinet members decided against running for office and returned to Tokyo. The incident may or may not affect the timetable of the election, which the LDP was predicted to easily win, as per NDTV.
Fukushiro Nukaga, a senior LDP member, remarked at the headquarters of the ruling party, "This comes as a great shock." Abe was referred to as "an exceptional leader of Japan and loyal ally of the United States" by US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, who also stated that the American people were praying for him and Japan.
Abe, who served as prime minister of Japan for the longest period of time, retired in August 2020 to receive treatment for a serious illness. Still, he remained politically active lobbying for higher defense spending and warned China that any invasion of Taiwan would be terrible for its economy.
Japan is a country with among of the tightest firearms prohibitions among major countries and shootings are rare. However, there are still instances of political violence: in 2007, Itcho Ito, the mayor of Nagasaki, passed away after being shot twice by a gang member.
Shinzo Abe Shooting Suspect in Custody
According to NHK, the man is being held for interrogation at the Nara Nishi police station and has been identified by the authorities as Yamagami Tetsuya, a local resident in his 40s. The suspect seems to have made the gun he used himself, CNN reported.
Shinzo Abe's status remains uncertain, according to Hirokazu Matsuno, chief cabinet secretary of Japan. Abe served as the former leader of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020 before stepping down for health concerns.
NHK broadcast video of the minutes leading up to Abe's collapse, including a loud bang that elicited yells and police pinning a guy to the ground close to where the former prime minister was standing. Smoke may be seen in the air in a different NHK video.
On the main Honshu island of Japan, Nara, the former capital, is situated directly east of Osaka. Since he was a teenager, Abe has had ulcerative colitis, which he claims can be treated with medication.
It was "gut wrenching," he told reporters at the time, to abandon so many of his objectives. He discussed his inability to address issues with Japanese who had been kidnapped by North Korea years before, a territorial conflict with Russia, and a change to Japan's constitution that prohibited war. He was quite divisive because of that last objective.
Per AP News, his zeal to normalize Japan's defensive posture infuriated many Japanese, while his ultra-nationalism infuriated the Koreas and China. Due to a lack of popular support, Abe was unable to officially rewrite the pacifist constitution, which was the country's founding document.
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