- Former Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe was shot while giving a speech in Nara city, reports say. - Outlets reported that Abe, who was taken to a hospital via helicopter, was showing no vital signs.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died after being fatally shot on Friday while giving a speech outside a train station in Nara.
The former prime minister appeared to be showing no vital signs after the attack, Kyodo News reported, citing information from the Japanese authorities. The outlet reported in subsequent updates on Friday afternoon that Abe had sustained a gunshot wound in his neck, and was also bleeding from his left chest, citing information from the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Japanese news outlet NHK reported that Abe was seen falling to the ground bleeding at around 11.30 a.m. local time. NHK reported that its reporter heard a gunshot going off in the vicinity while Abe was speaking.
NHK and Nikkei reported Abe's death around six hours after the shooting. Abe died at 5.03 p.m. local time, per Kyodo News.
Medical officers at the Nara Medical University, where Abe was treated on Friday, said doctors could not stop the bleeding from a bullet that was "deep enough to reach his heart," per CNN.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a press conference on Friday afternoon that Abe was in a critical condition and that doctors were doing their best to save him, with "maximum medical attention" being given to him.
"I would like to use the most extreme words available to condemn this act," Kishida added, saying he was praying for Abe to pull through.
He called the shooting "barbaric" and "heinous," adding that such an act of violence would not be tolerated.
Nobuo Kishi,
Kyodo
Regarding the shooting suspect, Kishida said he was waiting for more information on the man's background and motive.
NHK shared what appeared to be a video of the scene, which showed chaos and smoke, and what looked to be people surrounding a prone Abe.
—NHKニュース (@nhk_news) July 8, 2022
Nara resident Anya Sharute sent Insider several images of the scene, which she said were snapshots from the scene of the moment Abe collapsed.
Other videos from the scene appeared to show a similar cluster of people gathered at the site of Abe's speech. In this clip, a man calls urgently for assistance over a loudspeaker.
—アカペン｜現役エアコン設計者 (@Rakunalog) July 8, 2022
Asahi News also published what appeared to be an image of Abe lying prone on the ground, with specks of blood visible on his white shirt. The Nara City fire department confirmed to the Japanese news outlet Nikkei that Abe was airlifted to a hospital in Nara prefecture.
According to Nikkei, Abe had been speaking near the Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara as part of a scheduled series of political speeches to stump for Liberal Democratic Party candidates.
A video released by NHK News also showed multiple men in suits rushing at a man dressed in brown pants and a t-shirt and tackling him to the ground. The footage also includes a zoomed-in shot of what appeared to be two pipes wrapped in black tape lying on the road.
—BNO News (@BNONews) July 8, 2022
The Nara police confirmed to Kyodo that a pistol had been used in the incident.
There were around 30 people at the scene at the time of the incident, per Yahoo! Japan.
Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, told Insider in a statement: "We are all saddened and shocked by the shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Abe-san has been an outstanding leader of Japan and unwavering ally of the US.
"The US Government and American people are praying for the well-being of Abe-san, his family, & people of Japan," he added.
Michelle Ye Hee Lee, the Washington Post's Tokyo bureau chief, reported on remarks from Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno. According to Matsuno, all Cabinet members out campaigning for Sunday's upper house elections have been asked to return to Tokyo while the government coordinates its response to the shooting, per Lee.
Before the incident, Abe was heavily involved in campaigning for candidates and was seen making speeches and meeting crowds of people while touring various prefectures. A large gathering of his supporters had turned up in Hyogo to see him speak on Thursday.
—安倍晋三 (@AbeShinzo) July 7, 2022
Abe was also meant to travel to the nearby city of Kyoto to stump for Akira Yoshii, a former Kyoto City assemblyman, at a street campaign event scheduled for 12.30 p.m. local time on Friday.
The Japanese government has not made a formal announcement on the matter. The Japanese Prime Minister's press office and the Nara prefectural police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Abe, 67, was Japan's longest-serving prime minister and was in office from 2006 to 2007, and again from 2012 to 2020. He resigned in 2020 citing health issues, making way for his successor, Yoshihide Suga.
Japan is known to have almost completely eliminated gun deaths. It has a population of 127 million people and annual gun deaths rarely total more than 10.
Political assassinations in Japan are also exceedingly uncommon. In October 1960, the then-chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, Inejiro Asanuma, was killed after being stabbed with a wakizashi, a Japanese short sword. The last known assassination of a Japanese leader took place in 1932 when then-Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was shot and killed by a group of young naval officers.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.