Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese Prime Minister, has been confirmed, according to Japan’s national television.
On Friday, July 8, Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime leader, was shot while giving a campaign speech.
The alleged shooter, described as a guy in his 40s, was apprehended at the scene by Japanese secret service agents. The attack’s motivation is still to be revealed.
After being shot, Abe suffered wounds to the right side of his neck and the left clavicle.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed “deep distress” at the incident and called Abe a “dear friend.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia said his country’s “thoughts are with [Abe’s] family and the people of Japan at this time.”
Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, described the assassination as a “senseless act of violence” in a Facebook post. He also called Abe a “good friend of Singapore.”
Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, recalls Abe as one of the first international leaders she met “when I became Prime Minister.” “Events like this shake us all to the core,” she added.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, issued a brief statement in which he stated that he “didn’t know” anything about the incident. “My sympathies to my Japanese colleague for what happened,” he said.
The killing of Abe in Japan is stunning since gun violence is relatively rare in Japan, and gun ownership is incredibly difficult.
Photographs taken during the suspect’s arrest show what seems to be an improvised, or home-made, double-barreled shotgun.