Shinzo Abe in ‘very grave condition’ after being shot, says Japan PM Kishida

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said former premier Shinzo Abe is in a "very grave condition" after being shot on Friday.

"I pray that former prime minister Abe will survive," Kishida said. "It is a barbaric act during election campaigning, which is the foundation of democracy, and it is absolutely unforgivable. I condemn this act in the strongest terms." 

The former leader had been delivering a stump speech at an event ahead of Sunday's upper house elections when the apparent sound of gunshots were heard, national broadcaster NHK and the Kyodo news agency said.

Abe, 67, collapsed and was bleeding from the neck, a source from his ruling Liberal Democratic Party told the Jiji news agency.

Neither the LDP nor local police were able to immediately confirm the reports.

NHK and Kyodo both reported Abe was taken to hospital and appeared to be in cardo-respiratory arrest — a term used in Japan indicating no vital signs, and generally preceding a formal certification of death by a coroner.

Several media outlets reported that he appeared to have been shot from behind, possibly with a shotgun. NHK reported that a man had been apprehended, though there were no immediate further details.

Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, held office in 2006 for one year and again from 2012 to 2020.

Meanwhile, a man was arrested for attempted murder after the attack on Abe.

The man appeared to be in his 40s and a gun had been confiscated, said public broadcaster NHK, citing police sources. Local police were not immediately able to comment when contacted by AFP. — Agence France-Presse