Suspect arrested after Japan’s ex-PM Shinzo Abe shot
Summary
- Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe is in grave condition after being shot while giving a campaign speech
- Abe, 67, immediately collapsed and was seen bleeding before he was taken to the hospital
- The suspected attacker – reported to be a male in his 40s – was tackled at the scene and arrested
- He was said to be in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest – the term often used before death is officially confirmed in Japan
- Abe – in office from 2006-07 and 2012-20 – remains the country’s longest-serving PM
- Global leaders are reacting with shock, UK PM Boris Johnson says he is “utterly appalled and saddened” by the attack
Shooting shocks a country known for being safe
Rupert Wingfield-Hayes
BBC Tokyo correspondent, in Christchurch
The first question many people will be asking is what was the gun used and how did the shooter get hold of it?
The answer appears to be that he may have built it himself. Photographs taken as the suspect was being apprehended show what looks like an improvised, or home-made, double-barrelled shotgun.
Gun violence is very rare in Japan, and guns are extremely difficult to own. Political violence is also extremely rare.
Abe did have a team of security police with him. But it appears the shooter was still able to get to within a few meters of Abe without any sort of check, or barrier.
The shooting of such a prominent figure is profoundly shocking in a country that prides itself on being so safe.
