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Lisa Reed
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Mr. Abe, 67, was giving an election campaign speech before Sundays election for Japans upper house in parliament. Mr. Abe was in the city of Nara for an election campaign speech by a candidate from the local Liberal Democratic Party before the election to the upper house on Sunday. Shinzo Abe is making the campaign speech for 43-year-old Kei Sato, the incumbent upper house member running for re-election in Nara. Prime Minister Shinzo Kishida, whose party is aligned with Abes, was en route to Tokyo in a helicopter from Yamagata, his campaigning home district in northern Japan.
Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead in the city of Nara, the Japanese government confirmed on the morning of Friday, July 8. Japanese Government Bonds yields rose Friday after former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot during an election campaign rally in Nara, with reports saying that Mr. Abe appeared to have suffered a cardiac arrest while being taken by plane to a hospital. TOKYO - Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot at a campaign event Friday, Japanese officials said, shocking a country whose firearm laws are among the worlds most stringent and gun violence is rare. The shooting shocked Japanese people in the country.
View Images Fullscreen This aerial photograph shows the scene of a shooting on Friday, July 8, 2022, in Nara, western Japan. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lies on the ground following an apparent gunshot wound in an election campaign event during the Upper House elections July 10, 2022, in Nara, Western Japan, in this July 8, 2022, photo taken by Kyodo. Japans former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is bleeding heavily and showing no signs of life, rushed to a hospital after apparent gunfire at an election campaign rally in Nara, western Japan, a government official said on Friday. TOKYO, July 8 - Japanese former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot on Friday while campaigning on July 10, with state broadcaster NHK saying a man carrying what appeared to be a handmade firearm opened fire on him from behind.
TOKYO -- Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has slumped to the floor and is left unconscious after being shot and killed on Friday during a campaign rally in western Japan, according to a fire official. He was so shocked to hear that there had been shots. Former President Donald Trump said that absolutely devastating news of the shooting of Abe.
News agency AFP, citing local media, said Abe showed no life signs following the shooting. ArrowRight Party officials quoted by Japanese media said that Abe was unconscious, while NHK, a public broadcaster, said that the 67-year-old was showing no signs of life.
A journalist from Japans NHK Public Broadcasting Company said he heard what appeared to be two gunshots, and saw Abe bleeding. Local media reports said witnesses heard two gunshots, then saw Abe falling on the ground, his shirt bloodied. An NHK journalist at the scene heard what appeared to be gunshots, and saw Abe bleeding.
Makoto Morimoto, an official with the local fire department, said that Abe was cardio-pulmonary arrested and was taken to a hospital after being shot. A Nara Fire Ministry fire official said that Shinzo Abe was in cardio-pulmonary arrest, and was taken to the hospital in a helicopter for a medical evacuation. Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that the condition of the 67-year-old was not known, but fire officials confirmed reports by local media outlets that Abe was suffering from cardiac arrest at the time of his emergency ambulance transport.
Japans NHK public broadcaster said Abe was flown to Nara Medical University Hospital in Kashihara city. NHK and the Kyodo News Agency both say that Abe, a former Prime Minister, was taken to hospital and appeared to be in Cardo-Respiratory Arrest - a term used in Japan for having no vital signs, which usually precedes formal confirmation of death by the medical examiner.
According to Japans Kyodo News Agency, Abe had sustained gunshot wounds to the neck and chest. TBS TV reported Abe was shot on the left side of his chest, and also apparently to his neck. Public broadcaster NHK showed a video of Abe giving a campaign speech outside the railway station, at which point the view was briefly obscured, before security officials were seen grappling with the man on the ground.
Rahm Emanuel, the newly appointed US Ambassador to Japan, said that Rahm Emanuel was saddened and shocked by reports of the shootings. Rahm Emanuel said Abe had been a unwavering U.S. ally, adding that the U.S. Government and American people were praying for the well-being of Japans former leader. The United States and the American people are praying for the well-being of Abe-san, his family, and the Japanese people, Emanuel said in a statement.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Albanese tweeted his thoughts were with Abes camp and people in Japan. Our thoughts, prayers are with him, with his family, with the people of Japan, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he attended a meeting of Group of 20 foreign ministers in Bali, Indonesia.