Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida immediately returned to Tokyo after Shinzo Abe was shot, the US Ambassador immediately declared shock

Immediately after learning of the former Prime Minister when Shinzo Abe was shot, the current Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida abandoned the campaign plan and immediately returned to Tokyo. The US Ambassador to Japan also expressed shock and sadness about the incident.

Reuters reported on July 8, citing Japanese media that incumbent Prime Minister Fumio Kishida halted his election campaign after Shinzo Abe was shot. Mr. Kishida is returning to Tokyo.

Earlier, on the morning of July 8, NHK reported that Mr. Abe had collapsed after being shot in the chest while giving a speech in Nara city. After the incident, the former Japanese prime minister "showed no signs of life", local media said.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno confirmed Abe was shot at 11:30 a.m. local time, but said his condition was unknown.

A male suspect has been arrested. Japanese police said the suspect approached former Prime Minister Abe from behind and shot him with a shotgun.

The suspect is said to have shot the former Japanese prime minister twice and only stood there after Mr. Abe fell to the ground. The suspect did not attempt to flee. Public broadcaster NHK quoted a police source as saying that the man appeared to be 40 years old and that a gun had been confiscated.

An NHK reporter at the scene reported hearing two loud explosions in quick succession during Abe's speech.

According to Kyodo, former Prime Minister Abe was unconscious and appeared to have suffered a respiratory arrest.

NHK cited information from the ruling LDP party as saying that Mr. Abe had traveled to Nara to give a speech in the street in support of candidates in the Japanese upper house election. After the speech in Nara, he is scheduled to arrive in Saitama on the evening of July 8.

Currently, the attack on the former Japanese prime minister is causing a stir in the country known as the safest in the world, with the strictest gun control laws.

In another development, the US Ambassador to Japan has just expressed his feelings of shock and sadness about the incident.

"Mr. Abe is an outstanding leader of Japan and a firm ally of the United States. The US government and people pray for the health of Mr. Abe, his family and the Japanese people," the ambassador said. Rahm Emanuel wrote on Twitter.

Mr. Abe Shinzo was born on September 21, 1954, held the position of Prime Minister of Japan for four terms, and was the Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2020. He is the longest serving Prime Minister. in Japanese history.

Mr. Abe was elected to Parliament in the 1993 election. He was selected as Chief of the Cabinet Office in September 2005, before succeeding Mr. Koizumi as Chairman of the LDP in September 2006.

Mr. Abe was confirmed as Prime Minister of Japan after a session of the Japanese Parliament at the age of 52, making him the youngest post-war Prime Minister, and the first born after World War II.

In 2007, Mr. Abe resigned as prime minister citing ulcerative colitis, not long after his party lost the election that year. He was succeeded by Mr. Yasuo Fukuda, the first in a series of five prime ministers without one serving for more than 16 months.

After recovering, Abe unexpectedly returned to politics, surpassing former Defense Minister Ishiba Shigeru to become LDP President for the second time in September 2012.

In December 2012, after the LDP's overwhelming victory in the general election, he became the first Prime Minister to be reappointed since Yoshida Shigeru in 1948. He was re-elected with overwhelming results in 2014 and 2017.

In August 2020, Mr. Abe announced his intention to resign, citing the return of ulcerative colitis. He officially resigned on September 16, 2020, after the LDP leadership election two days earlier elected Mr. Suga Yoshihide as LDP Chairman.

Mr Abe, 65, announced his decision to step down just four days after he set the record for the longest uninterrupted tenure as Japan's leader - almost eight years.

Since coming to power in late 2012 as the sixth prime minister in five years, he has overseen Japan's recovery from the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, restoring The country returned to a brilliant economic state.

However, according to the New York Times, despite holding power for a long time, Mr. Abe has not achieved his ultimate goal of amending the pacifist Constitution established by the US after World War 2. Nor can it guarantee the return of disputed islands claimed by both Japan and Russia so that the two countries can sign a peace treaty formally ending the war.

And in a press conference announcing his resignation, Mr. Abe expressed regret over his third unrealized ambition to bring back Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago.

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died, why the assassination 'will change Japan forever'? Hoàng Anh22:11:07 08/07/2022At a press conference on the afternoon of July 8, the leader of Nara Medical University confirmed that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had passed away, after he was attacked with a gun in the morning of the same day. Doctors at Nara Medical University, who treated Mr...