Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot on July 8, 2022 during an election rally in Nara in his country, reports AFP. According to local media, he showed no signs of life. “The former Prime Minister was shot at around 11.30 a.m. [soit 02H30 GMT] in Nara. A man suspected of being the shooter has been arrested. Mr Abe’s medical condition is currently unknownChief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters. Citing law enforcement sources, state broadcaster NHK said earlier that a man in his 40s had been arrested for attempted murder and that a firearm had been confiscated from him.
The 67-year-old former chief executive was delivering a speech at a campaign rally ahead of Sunday’s senatorial elections when gunshots were heard, national broadcaster NHK and news agency reported. Kyodo press. “He was giving a speech and a man came up from behind“, told NHK a young woman present at the scene.The first shot sounded like a toy. He didn’t fall and there was a big bang. The second shot was more visible, you could see the spark and some smoke“, she added. “After the second shot, people surrounded him and gave him heart massage“, she testified again. Mr. Abe collapsed and was bleeding from the neck, a source from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) told the Jiji news agency.
Contacted by AFP, neither the PLD nor the local police were able to confirm this information immediately. Both NHK and Kyodo reported that Mr Abe was taken to hospital and appeared to be in cardio-respiratory arrest – a term used in Japan indicating no signs of life, and usually preceding an official death certificate. Several outlets reported that he appeared to have been shot from behind, likely with a rifle.
Shinzo Abe was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. He was in office in 2006 for a year, then again from 2012 to 2020, when he was forced to resign for health reasons. His wife Akie Abe created scandal in 2013 because of her anti-nuclear positions.
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.