Ex-PM Abe shot, condition unknown —Japan gov't

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was showing no vital signs after apparently being shot at a campaign event in the Nara region on Friday, local media reported.

The Japanese government confirmed that Abe had been shot but said his condition was "currently unknown."

"Former prime minister Abe was shot at around 11:30 am in Nara. One man, believed to be the shooter, has been taken into custody. The condition of former prime minister Abe is currently unknown," chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.

The former leader had been delivering a stump speech at an event ahead of Sunday's upper house elections when the apparent sound of gunshots were heard, national broadcaster NHK and the Kyodo news agency said.

Abe, 67, collapsed and was bleeding from the neck, a source from his ruling Liberal Democratic Party told the Jiji news agency.

Neither the LDP nor local police were able to immediately confirm the reports.

NHK and Kyodo both reported Abe was taken to hospital and appeared to be in cardo-respiratory arrest — a term used in Japan indicating no vital signs, and generally preceding a formal certification of death by a coroner.

Several media outlets reported that he appeared to have been shot from behind, possibly with a shotgun. NHK reported that a man had been apprehended, though there were no immediate further details.

Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, held office in 2006 for one year and again from 2012 to 2020. 

Meanwhile, a man was arrested for attempted murder after the attack on Abe.

The man appeared to be in his 40s and a gun had been confiscated, said public broadcaster NHK, citing police sources. Local police were not immediately able to comment when contacted by AFP. —Agence France-Presse