Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe has been taken to hospital bleeding after collapsing while delivering a speech in the western city of Nara, public broadcaster NHK reported on Friday. A sound like a gunshot was heard at the time, and a male suspect was detained at the scene, NHK said. An NHK reporter on the scene said they could hear two consecutive bangs during Abe’s speech.
Kyodo News said the former premier was not conscious and appeared to be in cardiac arrest.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said that he was shocked and saddened by news of the shooting.
“Abe-san has been an outstanding leader of Japan and unwavering ally of the United States,” Emanuel said in a statement Friday. “The U.S. Government and American people are praying for the well-being of Abe-san, his family, and people of Japan.”
Abe hails from Japan’s political elite and as prime minister had made reviving economic growth through his “Abenomics” policies a key pillar of his time in office.
Though Abe had been praised for amplifying Japan’s profile, his party was plagued by scandals and he was accused of mishandling the country’s pandemic response.
Abe’s resignation two years ago came amid a worsening of his ulcerative colitis, a chronic bowel condition he’d battled for years. He made the announcement days after he set a record as Japan’s longest-lasting prime minister, having been in office for almost eight years. He previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2007.
