Shinzo Abe, a former Japanese prime minister, passed away early on Friday, according to Japan’s NHK international news service. He was shot on Friday while giving a speech in Nara, a city close to Kyoto.
On Friday around 11:30 a.m. in Nara City, western Japan, he was shot while walking down the street. Campaigning for the upcoming Upper House election was the former leader. He was 67.
The report’s foundation was given as sources from Abe’s NDP party.
At 12:20 PM, Shinzo Abe was taken to the hospital. When I got there, he was in cardiac arrest. The process of resuscitation was used. Sadly, he passed away at 5:03 o’clock,” reported Professor Hidetada Fukushima at the hospital run by Nara Medical University, according to AFP.
Here is earlier reporting on the days following the incident:
Shinzo Abe’s younger brother told reporters in Tokyo early on Friday that the former prime minister is still in “very grave” condition and is receiving a blood transfusion there.
Nobuo Kishi, the Japanese government’s defense minister, added that regardless of the attacker’s intentions, the attack is an impermissible act.
Abe, the longest-serving prime minister of Japan, was shot in the neck and chest and has severe internal bleeding, according to Breitbart News.
According to the regional news source NHK, Abe passed away on Friday around 11:30 a.m. in the city of Nara in western Japan. A NHK reporter reportedly heard two gunshots and observed Abe bleeding profusely from his chest before collapsing.
The shooting has shocked a country where there is little gun violence.
People in Tokyo halted their traffic to pick up extra copies of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper or to watch the shooting on television.
Prior to Sunday’s legislative elections, Shinzo Abe was running a campaign for his previous party when he was shot.
A few hours later, at an emotional press conference, prime minister Fumio Kishida informed reporters that Abe was in a “very grave condition,” according to the BBC.
According to Kishida, who appeared to be fighting back tears, “doctors are currently doing everything they can,” adding that he was “pray[ing] from [his] heart]” that Mr. Abe would survive.
He also denounced the assault, calling it “barbaric and malicious” and “intolerable.”
