Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died on Friday after being shot while delivering a campaign speech, officials said. He was 67.
The big picture: Abe, who last served from December 2012 to September 2020, was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. He resigned in 2020 for health reasons, but remained influential in politics.
What happened: Abe was shot while giving a campaign speech in the city of Nara ahead of Sunday’s upper house election, NHK reported.
- He was rushed to the hospital but showed no vital signs, according to NHK. He suffered two gunshot wounds and died shortly after 5:00 p.m. local time, health officials said at a news conference.
- Police have arrested the suspected gunman, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, according to NHK. The former member of the Japanese navy was reportedly unhappy with Abe and wanted to kill him as a result, but not because of political differences.
- The gun found at the scene was apparently hand-made.
- Shootings are extremely rare in Japan, a country with some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the world. There were 10 shootings and one gun-related death in Japan last year, the Washington Post notes.
- Abe’s widow, Aki Abe, will travel with his body to Tokyo, where his family is based, the CNN office said. Funeral arrangements will be made afterwards.
What they say: “He worked for peace and stability in Japan and the world,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said after Abe’s death was confirmed
- “He was a dear friend who loved this country,” Kishida added. “To lose such a figure in this way is absolutely devastating.”
- Earlier on Friday, Kishda called the attack on Abe “barbaric and malicious and cannot be tolerated.”
- “This is not a forgivable act,” Kishida said, adding that authorities “will take appropriate measures to deal with the situation.”
World leaders expressed shock and outrage at the killing.
- “This is shocking. It’s deeply troubling… It’s also such an intense personal loss for so many people,” US Secretary of State Tony Blinken told reporters in Indonesia, where he was attending a meeting of G20 foreign ministers.
- “In the United States, Prime Minister Abe has been an outstanding partner. And someone who was clearly a great leader for Japan,” Blinken added.
- “Mr Abe was one of the first world leaders I met when I became prime minister. He was always focused, thoughtful and generous,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement.
- “This act of violence against Japan’s longest-serving prime minister is unfathomable, and we stand with Japan in its condemnation of what happened today.”
Background: Abe rose to prominence in national politics in the early 2000s, according to the New York Times.
- He first became prime minister in 2006, but abruptly resigned a year later after several political scandals.
- Abe returned for a second stint as prime minister in 2012, promising to revive the economy and change the country’s pacifist constitution, a goal he failed to achieve due to weak public support.
- The end of his tenure saw strong ties with the US, especially former President Trump.
- By the time he announced he was stepping down in 2020, citing ongoing health problems with ulcerative colitis, his popularity had declined because of his handling of the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and a series of political scandals, according to the Times.
- His more than seven years in office offered him a rare steady hand at the top of Japanese politics. The country was known for frequently changing prime ministers before he took office in 2012.
Go deeper: World leaders express shock at killing of Japan’s Shinzo Abe
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new details throughout.
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