TOKYO.- Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe showed no vital signs as he was taken to a hospital after an apparent attack during a campaign event in the Nara region, local media reported.
“A local fire department says that former Prime Minister Abe appears to be in a state of cardiorespiratory arrest,” public broadcaster NHK reported, using an expression used in Japan before a doctor confirmed death.
Police and firefighters could not confirm the information when asked by AFP.
The Japanese press presumed shortly after that Shinzo Abe had died on Friday after an apparent attack with a firearm during a campaign event in the Nara region.
The public network NHK reported that a man in his 40s was arrested for attempted murder and that a weapon was confiscated, citing police sources.
Abe was making a campaign speech at an event ahead of elections for the upper legislative house on Sunday when shots were heard that reportedly hit the man’s chest, NHK and the Kyodo news agency said.
“I was giving a speech and a man came from behind,” a young woman who was at the event told the NHK network.
“The first shot sounded like a toy. He didn’t fall but then there was a loud bang. The second shot was more visible, you could see the bang and the smoke,” he added.
Abe, 67, collapsed and was bleeding from the neck, a source from his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) told the Jiji agency.
Various media reported that the former leader had been attacked from behind, possibly with a shotgun.
The government announced the creation of a working group after the incident.
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, ruled the country in 2006 for a year, then returned to power between 2012 and 2020.
