Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe has been shot at and collapsed during a campaign speech in the city of Nara.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that Abe appeared to be bleeding from the chest after being shot from behind with a shotgun Friday morning. Citing police sources, NHK reported that Abe was likely hit from behind by gunfire.
NHK reports that Abe was rushed to hospital.
According to local media reports, witnesses heard shots fired before seeing Abe fall to the ground and smear his shirt with blood. Security guards then rushed to surround him. Police have arrested a 42-year-old man at the scene for attempted murder.
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister to step down in 2020, was in the western city of Nara to deliver a campaign speech for the local Liberal Democratic Party candidate ahead of Sunday’s upper house elections.
Abe was Prime Minister of Japan from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020.
More to come…