Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was reportedly shot dead during an election speech in western Japan on Friday and suffered from heart failure, according to NHK’s public television.
The broadcaster aired Prime Minister Abe collapsed on the street and several guards running towards him. When Abe collapsed, he was holding his chest with blood on his shirt. According to NHK, Prime Minister Abe was taken to the hospital.
Prime Minister Abe was campaigning in Nara prior to the House of Councilors election on Sunday, giving a speech when he heard gunshots.
This attack was a shock in one of the safest countries in the world, with some of the strictest gun control laws everywhere.
The term heart failure means that the heart does not pump enough blood to supply the rest of the body with the oxygen it needs. In Japan, authorities may use the term to describe a situation in which a victim is no longer alive, but before a formal presumption of death was made.
It was not immediately clear how serious Abe’s injury was, or whether he was still showing vital signs.
Prime Minister Abe resigned in 2020 due to chronic health problems It was resurfaced. Prime Minister Abe says he has been suffering from ulcerative colitis since he was a teenager and that treatment controlled his symptoms.
He told reporters at the time that leaving many of his goals unfinished was “root pain.” He talked about the failure to resolve the issue of the Japanese abducted by North Korea a few years ago, the territorial issue with Russia, and the revision of Japan’s war abandonment constitution.
Its final goal was a major reason he was such a divisive person.
His ultranationalism angered South Korea and China, and his push to normalize Japan’s defensive stance angered many Japanese. Prime Minister Abe was unable to achieve his important goal of formally rewriting the US conscription pacifist constitution due to lack of public support.
Supporters of Prime Minister Abe said his legacy was the strengthening of US-Japan relations aimed at strengthening Japan’s defenses. However, Prime Minister Abe also created an enemy by forcing defense targets and other controversial issues through parliament, despite strong public opposition.
Prime Minister Abe is a political blue blood that has been groomed to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi. His political rhetoric often focused on making Japan a “normal” and “beautiful” country with stronger military power and a greater role in international affairs.
US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel expressed sadness and shock at the shooting. “Mr. Abe is an outstanding leader in Japan and an unwavering ally of the United States. The US government and Americans wish Abe and his family, and the people of Japan, happiness,” he said on Twitter.
This story was originally Los Angeles Times..