Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead on Friday while campaigning. He was Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister.
According to reports, after being shot, Shinzo Abe was moved to the hospital while he was in a state of cardiac arrest. However, he died later in the hospital. NHK, a news agency reported the former prime minister was addressing a rally ahead of next Sunday’s Upper House elections when he was shot.
NHK quoted the suspect, identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, as telling police he was dissatisfied with Abe and wanted to kill him. He has been taken into custody. As per Police reports, the suspect opened fire on Abe from behind with a homemade gun.
It was the first assassination of a sitting or former Japanese premier since the days of prewar militarism in the 1930s.
The incumbent Prime Minister Fumio Kishida while talking to the media, strongly condemned the shooting. Whereas, Japanese people and world leaders expressed shock at the violence in a country in which political violence is rare and guns are tightly controlled.