General view after former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was apparently shot during an election campaign for the July 10, 2022 Upper House election, in Nara, western Japan July 8, 2022. in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERS
TOKYO: Japanese former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot on Friday while campaigning for a parliamentary election, with public broadcaster NHK saying a man armed with an apparently homemade gun opened fired at him from behind.
Police said a 41-year-old man suspected of carrying out the shooting in the western city of Nara had been arrested.
Kyodo news agency and NHK said Abe, 67, appeared to be in a state of cardiac arrest when airlifted to hospital, after having initially been conscious and responsive.
"Such an act of barbarity cannot be tolerated," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters, adding that Abe had been shot at about 11:30 a.m. (0230 GMT).
He said he did not know Abe's condition.
NHK showed video of Abe making a campaign speech outside a train station when two shots rang out, after which the view was briefly obscured and then security officials were seen tackling a man on the ground. A puff of smoke behind Abe could be seen in another video shown in NHK.
Kyodo published a photograph showing Abe lying face-up on the street by a guardrail, blood on his white shirt. People were crowded around him, one administering heart massage.
TBS Television reported that Abe had been shot on the left side of his chest and apparently also in the neck.
Political violence is rare in Japan, a country with strict gun regulations.
"I thought it was firecrackers at first," one bystander told NHK.
Police identified the suspected shooter as Tetsuya Yamagami, a resident of Nara. Media said he had served in Japan's military.
Abe served two terms as prime minister to become Japan's longest-serving premier before stepping down in 2020 citing ill health.
But he has remained a dominant presence over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), controlling one of its major factions.
His protege, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, goes into Sunday's upper house election hoping, analysts say, to emerge from Abe's shadow and define his premiership.
Kishida suspended his election campaign after Abe's shooting and was returning to Tokyo where he was due to speak to media at 0530 GMT.
The government said there was no plan to postpone the election but most major parties stopped their campaigns.
'Very sad'
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed deep concern over Abe's condition.
"Our thoughts, our prayers are with him, with his family, with the people of Japan," Blinken said on the sidelines of a G20 meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali. "This is a very, very sad moment. And we're awaiting news from Japan."
The United States is Japan's most important ally.
The yen rose and Japan's Nikkei index fell on news of the shooting, partially driven by a knee-jerk flight to safety.
Abe is best known for his "Abenomics” policy of aggressive monetary easing and fiscal spending.
He also bolstered defence spending after years of declines and expanded the military’s ability to project power abroad.
