Shinzo Abe is taken to the hospital after being shot, suspect arrested

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was admitted to the hospital. He was bleeding from an apparent gunshot wound he received in Nara (a western Japanese city).

Abe was Japan’s longest serving prime minister. He was giving a speech to a candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan election campaign. When he fell, he appeared to have been hit in the chest.

The incident occurred near Yamato-Saidaiji Station.

A reporter at NHK said that she heard two gunshots followed by Abe’s bleeding.

Footage was aired on station and captured his fall onto the streets. Several security guards then ran towards him. His chest was still bleeding.

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe lies on the ground after apparent shooting in Nara, western Japan July 8, 2022. (Kyodo via Reuters)

A local fire official Makoto Morimoto stated that Abe was suffering from cardio-pulmonary arrest. This means that he wasn’t breathing properly and had his heart stop while being flown to a hospital.

Abe did not appear to have any vital signs. The local fire station reported that NHK had earlier reported.

Yoichi Masuzoe, a former governor of Tokyo, said on Twitter at 12: 04 p.m. local time that Abe was in “cardiopulmonary arrest.”

In Japan, the term is sometimes used by officials to refer to situations in which victims have died but are still alive before formal death declarations.

Two bullets struck Abe’s left chest from behind. Fuji News Network reported , Citing officials of the Liberal Democratic Party.

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. (STR/Jiji Press/AFP via Getty Images)

Chief Secretary to the Cabinet Hirokazu Mattsuno stated that a suspect was arrested by police on the spot.

A male suspect was detained at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder around 11: 30 a.m. and a gun has been retrieved from the scene, NHK reported, citing police sources.

The suspect is reportedly a foreign citizen in his 40s.

Japan has strict gun-control laws. A person must pass multiple police and medical tests before they can obtain a firearm. Each year, firearm-related deaths are in the single digits.

Abe had served as Japan’s Prime Minister and as the president of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. He quit in 2007 citing ill health. His latest term was due to end in September 2021 but he resigned in August 2020, citing concerns over his health. Later, he shared with us that he suffered from ulcerative colitis (an intestinal condition).

Abe is well-known for his economic strategy, “Abenomics .”

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U.S.

U.S. American citizens and the U.S. Government are praying for Abe-san’s well-being, as well as his family and people of Japan .

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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