Shots in the street: Attack on Japan's ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

A few days before the upper house elections in Japan, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated.

Shots in the street: Attack on Japan's ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

A few days before the upper house elections in Japan, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated. During an election campaign, a man shoots at the politician. The 67-year-old is in mortal danger.

An attack has been carried out on the former right-wing conservative Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. This was confirmed by the Japanese government. "Former Prime Minister Abe was shot at around 11:30 a.m. in Nara," government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said. "One man, the suspected shooter, has been arrested. Former Prime Minister Abe's condition is currently unknown."

Japanese media had previously reported, citing Abe's ruling LDP party, that a man shot Abe from behind as he was standing in the street during a campaign speech in broad daylight in the ancient imperial city of Nara. The politician was bleeding from the neck. According to information from the television station NHK, Abe was initially still conscious, but meanwhile no longer shows any vital signs. The 67-year-old appears to be in cardiac arrest.

According to NHK, the perpetrator is said to have fired two shots. Abe grabbed his chest as he collapsed, his shirt was smeared with blood. TV pictures show Abe collapsed on the street.

The US ambassador to Japan was shocked by the attack. "We are all sad and shocked" that the former Prime Minister was shot, wrote US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel in a statement. "Abe-san" was an "outstanding leader of Japan and a staunch ally of the United States". "The US government and the American people pray for the well-being of Abe-san, his family and the people of Japan," Emanuel wrote.

Abe ruled Japan from December 2012 to September 2020, making him the country's longest-serving prime minister. Under him, Japan had moved significantly to the right. Abe is one of the staunch advocates of a revision of the pacifist post-war constitution. In Article 9 of the Constitution, Japan "forever renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes".

Elections to the House of Lords will take place in Japan on Sunday. The LDP is expected to win a landslide victory. This could gain momentum in the debate about changing the constitution. The island kingdom of Japan has some of the strictest gun laws in the world and is considered one of the safest countries in the world.