Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is not showing any vital signs after apparently being shot during a campaign event in the Nara region on Friday, local media reported.
The former leader had given a stupid speech at an event ahead of Sunday’s upper house elections when the apparent sound of gunfire was heard, national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo news agency said.
Abe, 67, collapsed and was bleeding from his neck, a source from his ruling Liberal Democratic Party told the Jiji news agency.
Neither the LDP nor the local police could immediately confirm the reports.
Mr Abe was taken to hospital and appeared to be in cardiac arrest, according to reports. The term, used in Japan, does not indicate vital signs and generally precedes a formal death certificate from a coroner.
Several media outlets reported that he appeared to have been shot from behind, possibly with a shotgun.
Local media reported that a man was in custody, but there were no immediate details.
Mr Abe, Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister, was in office for a year in 2006 and again from 2012 to 2020.
More to follow.