Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has died aged 67 after he was shot twice on Monday morning in the eastern city of Nara during an election campaign event.
Japan’s NHK confirmed the news, citing officials of Abe’s Liberal Democratic party (LDP).
Earlier in the day, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had said Abe’s condition remained grave. Japanese officials had suggested in the immediate aftermath of the shooting that the health of the former prime minister, Japan’s longest serving leader, was tenuous. They had said Abe was in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest after collapsing on the scene of the crime.
In Japan, ‘cardiopulmonary arrest’ is a term commonly used in Japan before a death is officially confirmed.
Photos and videos from the scene showed the assassin firing two shots from behind even as Abe was making a stump speech. Abe collapsed on the ground where he was seen bleeding profusely. Reports close on the heels of his hospitalization said he had no vital signs when he was brought to the hospital.
