Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died on Friday after being shot during an election campaign speech, officials said. He was 67. He was airlifted to a hospital but did not survive.
Abe was shot at twice while he was giving a speech in the southern city of Nara near Kyodo on Friday morning. Two shots were hard and Abe collapsed to the ground with blood seen on his shirt.
Security officials at the scene immediately tackled the gunman, and the 41-year-old suspect is now in police custody. The photographs taken at the scene showed that the weapon used was an improvised or homemade, double-barrelled shotgun.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called the attack “dastardly and barbaric” and added that the crime occurring during the election campaign, which is the foundation of democracy, was absolutely unforgivable.
Mr Abe, who was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, stepped down in 2020 citing health reasons.
The fatal attack in one of the world’s safest countries has stunned the world. Prominent voices across the world have been quick to condemn the incident.
Biden ‘stunned, outraged, and deeply saddened’ by assassination
U.S, President Joe Biden said he was “stunned, outraged, and deeply saddened” by the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “This is a tragedy for Japan and for all who knew him,” Biden said in a statement. Biden said Shinzo was a champion of the alliance between our nations and the friendship between our people and that he had a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific which will endure.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken offered his sincerest condolences on the tragic passing of the Japanese leader. “Prime Minister Abe was a global leader and unwavering ally and friend of the United States, whose vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific lifted our Alliance cooperation to new heights. We offer our thoughts to Prime Minister Abe’s family and the people of Japan,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin said that “The Department of Defense is stunned and deeply saddened by the senseless murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. His killing is a tragedy for the people of Japan and for all those who value a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Austin added that Abe championed the vital and enduring alliance between our two democracies, paving the way for Japan to play an even larger role in our alliance. “His work to strengthen alliances and partnerships across the Indo-Pacific – including through venues such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue of Japan, India, Australia and the United States – leaves a legacy of a more secure, stable and prosperous region.”
