Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated today during an election campaign of his political party. He was making a speech when an armed man from behind carrying a home-made gun attacked him in the western city of Nara.
Abe was taken to hospital but he succumbed to his injuries, an official from his political party said.
Police said a 41-year-old man suspected of carrying out the shooting had been arrested. NHK quoted the suspect, identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, as telling police he was dissatisfied with Abe and wanted to kill him.
In Japan, it was the first assassination of a sitting or former Japanese premier since the days of pre-war militarism in the 1930s.
Speaking before Abe’s death was announced, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the shooting in the “strongest terms” while Japanese people and world leaders expressed shock at the violence in a country in which political violence is rare and guns are tightly controlled.
“This attack is an act of brutality that happened during the elections — the very foundation of our democracy — and is absolutely unforgivable,” said Kishida, struggling to keep his emotions in check.
