Local media including national broadcaster NHK and the Kyodo news agency said the former prime minister appeared to be in "cardiorespiratory arrest", a term often used in Japan before a feared death can be officially confirmed by a coroner
Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe interacts with supporters as he joins the election campaign for Liberal Democratic Party member Kentaro Asahi (not pictured) ahead of the House of Councillors election on July 10, in Tokyo on June 22, 2022. Image:Â Philip Fong / AFP
Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot at a campaign event on Friday, a government spokesman said, as local media reported the nation's longest-serving premier was showing no vital signs.
"Former prime minister Abe was shot at around 11:30 am," in the country's western region of Nara, chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.
"One man, believed to be the shooter, has been taken into custody. The condition of former prime minister Abe is currently unknown."
"Whatever the reason, such a barbaric act can never be tolerated, and we strongly condemn it," Matsuno added.
Local media including national broadcaster NHK and the Kyodo news agency said Abe appeared to be in "cardiorespiratory arrest", a term often used in Japan before a feared death can be officially confirmed by a coroner.