Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was unconscious and unresponsive after being shot in the chest during a political event on Friday, shocking a nation where gun violence is rare.
Abe, 67, was shot twice from behind about three meters (10 feet) away while campaigning for Sunday’s upper house election in the western city of Nara, broadcaster NTV said, citing an official in his ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Police arrested a local man in his 40s, Kyodo News reported.
Two videos broadcast by NHK showed what appeared to be gun smoke coming from behind Abe as he spoke and a man being tackled by security personal on the street soon afterward. Abe was rushed to a hospital immediately and may have gone into cardiac arrest, Kyodo News said, citing local firefighters.
