 |
| Photo Credit: AP. |
Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated Friday on a street in western Japan by a gunman who opened fire on him from behind as he delivered a campaign speech, The Associated Press reports.
Following
the gunshot, Abe lay motionless bleeding and was airlifted to a nearby hospital
in Nara where he was later pronounced dead after receiving massive blood
transfusions, officials reportedly said. He had stopped breathing and his heart
stopped.
According to
the Associated Press, a hearse carrying Abe’s body left the hospital early
Saturday to his home in Tokyo.
Nara Medical
University emergency department chief Hidetada Fukushima said Abe suffered
major damage to his heart, along with two neck wounds that damaged an artery,
The Associated Press reported. He never regained his vital signs, Fukushima
said.
A suspect Tetsuya
Yamagami, 41, a former member of Japan’s navy was arrested by police, on
suspicion of murder. Police said he used a gun that was obviously homemade —
about 15 inches (40 centimeters) long — and they confiscated similar weapons
and his personal computer when they raided his nearby one-room apartment.
According to
The Associated Press, Police said Yamagami was responding calmly to questions
and had admitted to attacking Abe, telling investigators he had plotted to kill
him because he believed rumors about the former leader’s connection to a
certain organization that police did not identify.
Broadcaster NHK
released a video showing Abe standing and giving a speech outside a train
station when two gunshots rang out as he raised his fist to make a point. He
collapsed holding his chest, and his shirt was smeared with blood as security
guards run toward him. Guards than leapt onto the gunman who was face down on
the pavement and a double-barreled weapon was seen nearby. The country is
voting in a parliamentary election on Sunday.
“I use the
harshest words to condemn (the act),” Kishida said, according to The Associated
Press.