Shinzo Abe, Former Japanese Prime Minister, Assassinated

Shinzo Abe is dead after a gunman mortally wounded the former Japanese leader.

Abe, 67, was shot while giving a campaign speech in Nara. He served as prime minister from 2006 to 2007 and 2012 to 2020.

As Fox News reports:

Earlier Friday, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave an emotional press conference where he said Abe, 67, was in “severe condition” and he hopes he will survive. Abe was taken from the scene of the shooting unconscious and in cardiac arrest with no vital signs, Japanese media outlets Kyodo News and NHK reported. 

Kishida, who belongs to the same political party as Abe, returned to Tokyo from a campaign trip after the shooting. Kishida spoke to reporters at the prime minister's office, saying Abe was receiving the utmost medical treatment. “I'm praying for former prime minister Abe's survival from the bottom of my heart,” he said.

Kishida called the attack “dastardly and barbaric” and that the crime during the election campaign, which is the foundation of democracy, is absolutely unforgivable.

Abe successfully lobbied for Japan to enter collective defensive agreements to help safeguard its and its allies' security and territorial integrity. Domestically, he was best known for his comprehensive economic policy, Abenomics. While widely credited for turning Japan away from recession, Abe failed to lower government debt or rein in Japanese bureaucracy as he would have liked.

He resigned as prime minister over health concerns one year before his term ended.

According to reports from Japanese broadcaster NHK, the suspect in Abe's shooting, Tetsuya Yamagam, used a handmade gun.

Yamagam, a Nara resident in his 40s, didn't attempt to flee.

Reaction poured in from world leaders following confirmation of Abe's demise.