Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe lies on the ground after apparent shooting during an election campaign for the July 10, 2022 Upper House election, in Nara, western Japan July 8, 2022. in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERS
Reuters - July 8, 2022

Japanese former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot on Friday while campaigning for a parliamentary election, with public broadcaster NHK saying a man armed with an apparently homemade gun opened fired at him from behind.

Police said a 41-year-old man suspected of carrying out the shooting in the western city of Nara had been arrested.

Kyodo news agency and NHK said Abe, 67, appeared to be in a state of cardiac arrest when airlifted to hospital, after having initially been conscious and responsive.

"Such an act of barbarity cannot be tolerated," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters, adding that Abe had been shot at about 11:30 a.m. (0230 GMT).

He said he did not know Abe's condition.

NHK showed video of Abe making a campaign speech outside a train station when two shots rang out, after which the view was briefly obscured and then security officials were seen tackling a man on the ground. A puff of smoke behind Abe could be seen in another video shown in NHK.

General view shows the site after former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was apparently shot during an election campaign for the July 10, 2022 Upper House election, in Nara, western Japan July 8, 2022, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERS

Kyodo published a photograph showing Abe lying face-up on the street by a guardrail, blood on his white shirt. People were crowded around him, one administering heart massage.

TBS Television reported that Abe had been shot on the left side of his chest and apparently also in the neck.

Political violence is rare in Japan, a country with strict gun regulations.

In 2007 the major of Nagasaki was shot and killed by a yakuza gangster. The head of the Japan Socialist Party was assassinated during a speech in 1960 by a right-wing youth with a samurai short sword.

"I thought it was firecrackers at first," one bystander told NHK.

Police identified the suspected shooter as Tetsuya Yamagami, a resident of Nara. Media said he had served in Japan's military.

Abe served two terms as prime minister to become Japan's longest-serving premier before stepping down in 2020 citing ill health.

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