Ex-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Dies at 67 After Campaign Shooting – Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot while making a campaign speech on Friday in western Japan. He was airlifted to a hospital, but later died from his wounds, according to the nation’s public broadcaster NHK.
Officials from Abe’s political party and the regional hospital where he was treated confirmed his death, according to numerous Japanese and foreign news sites. Abe was in cardiopulmonary arrest, or CPA, according to local fire department official Makoto Morimoto.
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This means that even as he was being airlifted to the hospital, he was not breathing and his heart had stopped. Abe sustained gunshot wounds to his neck and chest, according to the Japanese news agency Kyodo.
Reporters were informed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno that a male suspect had been detained by police at the scene of the attack. “A barbaric act like this is absolutely unforgivable, no matter what the reasons are, and we condemn it strongly,” Matsuno said.
The current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, who is a member of the same political party as Abe, went by helicopter back to Tokyo from Yamagata, where he held his own campaign event.
In a previous statement to reporters, he said that although he was “unaware of the motivations and context behind this incident, this attack is a horrific act that occurred during the elections – the very core of our democracy — and is absolutely unforgivable.”
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In a video that NHK aired, security personnel could be seen rushing toward Abe as he lay motionless in the street. According to reports, he was shot a few minutes after he began speaking in front of a train station in western Nara.
In social media videos, a man who resembles Abe can be heard speaking while at least two gunshots can be heard, and a white plume of smoke can be seen behind the former prime minister.