Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe Declared Dead After Being Shot At
08-Jul-2022
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Shinzo Abe Shot dead: Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is declared dead after being shot at a campaign event in the city of Nara earlier today.
Shinzo Abe Shot Dead: Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has been declared dead after being shot at a campaign event in the city of Nara on Friday morning. The broadcaster aired footage showing Abe collapsed on the street, with several security guards running toward him. Abe was holding his chest when he collapsed, with his shirt smeared with blood. Abe was rushed to a hospital. Abe was in Nara campaigning ahead of Sunday’s election for the parliament’s upper house and was giving a speech when people heard a gunshot. Soon after, the police arrested a male suspect at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder, NHK said.
“Officials say former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has been confirmed dead. He was reportedly shot during a speech on Friday in the city of Nara, near Kyoto,” Japanese media outlet NHK tweeted on its official Twitter handle. Liberal Democratic Party sources also confirmed the same, Kyoto news agency reported.
Shinzo Abe Shot Dead: Top points-
Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe was shot at today morning
The attacker shot Shinzo Abe in the back with a shotgun
Shinzo Abe was delivering a speech at an event ahead of Sunday’s upper house elections when gunshots were heard
Suspect, man Tetesuyo Yamagamy, in his 40s, was arrested immediately
No word on a possible motive
Shinzo Abe was Japan’s longest-serving PM
A general view shows workers at the scene after an attack on Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe at Kintetsu Yamato-Saidaiji station square in Nara on July 8, 2022. (AFP)
The attack was a shock in a country that’s one of the world’s safest and with some of the strictest gun control laws anywhere.
Video shows the attempted assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Abe, 67, stepped down as prime minister in 2020 because he said a chronic health problem has resurfaced. Abe has had ulcerative colitis since he was a teenager and has said the condition was controlled with treatment.
Abe is a political blue blood who was groomed to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. His political rhetoric often focused on making Japan a “normal” and “beautiful” nation with a stronger military and bigger role in international affairs.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel expressed sadness and shock at the shooting. “Abe-san has been an outstanding leader of Japan and unwavering ally of the U.S. The U.S. Government and American people are praying for the well-being of Abe-san, his family, & people of Japan,” he said on Twitter.
