Shinzo Abe - a former Japanese Prime Minister - has died after he was shot during a campaign speech in western Japan. Police arrested the suspected gunman at the scene of the attack in Nara.
Mr Abe, 67, was in “grave condition” following the attack, according to Japan's current prime minister Fumio Kishida. Mr Abe was airlifted to hospital following the attack, but officials said he was not breathing and his heart had stopped. Japanese broadcaster NHK reports that Mr Abe has been pronounced dead.
Mr Kishida returned to Tokyo after the shooting, which he called “dastardly and barbaric”. Following the shooting, he told reporters at his office: “I’m praying for former Prime Minister Abe’s survival from the bottom of my heart."
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Local media in Japan aired footage of the aftermath of the attack, which showed Mr Abe collapsed on the street with several security guards running toward him. He appeared to be bleeding and clutching onto his chest.
Footage broadcast by NHK also shows security guards leap on top of a man in grey shirt, who lies face down on the pavement. A double-barrelled device, which appeared to be a handmade gun, can be seen on the ground.
Mr Abe was giving a speech when people heard gunshots. He was reportedly shot a few minutes after he started talking outside of a main train station in western Nara.
The shooting has made headlines around the world, causing shock in a country that is one of the world’s safest and with some of the strictest gun control laws anywhere. Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters: “A barbaric act like this is absolutely unforgivable, no matter what the reasons are, and we condemn it strongly.”
Mr Abe remained influential in the governing Liberal Democratic Party and was the head of its largest faction, Seiwakai. Nara, once the capital of Japan, is just to the east of Osaka on the country’s main Honshu island.
Afte the shooting, Nara prefectural police confirmed the arrest of Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, on suspicion of attempted murder. NHK reported that the suspect served in Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force for three years in the 2000s.
Boris Johnson wrote on Twitter that he was “utterly appalled and saddened to hear about the despicable attack on Shinzo Abe”. He added: “My thoughts are with his family and loved ones.”
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