Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died in hospital on Friday as a result of the bullet attack he suffered during an election rally in Nara, arousing great emotion in Japan and abroad.
“Shinzo Abe was rushed (to hospital) at 12:20 p.m. He was in cardiac arrest when he arrived. (The doctors tried) to resuscitate him. However, he sadly died at 5:03 p.m. (0803 GMT), said Hidetada Fukushima, a professor of emergency medicine at Nara Medical University Hospital in nearby Kashihara.
Mr. Abe was hit by two bullets in the neck, said the doctor.
“It is a barbaric act in the middle of the electoral campaign, which is the basis of democracy, and it is absolutely unforgivable”, denounced Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a press briefing, before the death of Mr. Abe is confirmed.
Visibly very moved, Mr. Kishida said he “prayed” for the survival of Mr. Abe, his former political mentor, of whom he was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2017.
According to Dr Fukushima, Mr Abe arrived at the hospital in “cardio-respiratory arrest” – a term used in Japan indicating the absence of signs of life, and usually preceding an official death certificate.
The former chief executive was giving a late morning speech near a train station in Nara during a campaign rally ahead of Sunday’s senatorial elections when gunshots were heard, according to the outlet. National NHK and Kyodo News Agency.
A suspect arrested
A man in his forties was immediately disarmed and arrested. According to several local media, the suspect is a 41-year-old Japanese man who in the past belonged to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, the Japanese Navy.
NHK footage showed officers wearing protective gear entering a building identified by the TV station as the suspect’s home in Nara on Friday afternoon.
In NHK footage showing the moment of the attack, Mr Abe is seen standing on a podium, then a loud bang sounds and smoke billows. The spectators surprised by the detonation bend down and several people tackle another on the ground.
Mr Abe “was giving a speech and a man came up from behind”, a young woman at the scene told NHK.
“The first shot sounded like a toy. He (Mr Abe) didn’t fall and there was a big bang. The second shot was more visible, you could see the spark and smoke,” she added.
After the second shot, people surrounded Mr. Abe who had fallen to the ground “and gave him a cardiac massage”, she testified again.
Local PLD officials said they had received no threat before the attack and that Mr. Abe’s speech had been announced publicly.
“Very, very sad”
Former PLD leader Shinzo Abe was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. He had been in office in 2006-2007, then again from 2012 to 2020. He had been forced to resign for health reasons but remained very influential within the PLD, of which he controlled the main faction in Parliament.
Reactions poured in from around the world after the attack.
“This is a very, very sad time,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday, adding that the United States was “deeply sad and deeply concerned.”
In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin lamented an “irreparable loss”. In Brussels, the heads of the European Union denounced the “brutal murder” of a “great democrat” and the main leaders in Asia were in shock.
Japan hasn’t seen anything like it “for more than 50 to 60 years,” Corey Wallace, a lecturer at Kanagawa University and a specialist in Japanese politics, told AFP.
According to him, the last similar incident in Japan was the 1960 assassination of Inejiro Asanuma, the leader of the Japanese Socialist Party, who was stabbed by a student close to the extreme right.
“But two days before an election (and a man) so important […] it is deeply sad and shocking,” he added.
Japan has one of the strictest gun control laws in the world, and the annual death toll from guns in the country of 125 million people is extremely low.
Obtaining a gun license is a long and complicated process, even for Japanese citizens, who must first obtain a recommendation from a shooting association and then undergo strict police checks.