Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has died. Early Friday, he was shot during a speech in the city of Nara, near Kyoto according to a report early Friday, by Japan’s international news service NHK. Abe was apparently at a street rally to support a candidate, for upcoming Upper House elections, when he was shot and killed. He was 67.
According to Abe’s NDP party it was reported that-
“Shinzo Abe was transported to (the hospital) at 12:20pm. He was in a state of cardiac arrest upon arrival. Resuscitation was administered. However, unfortunately he died at 5:03 pm,”
-Professor Hidetada Fukushima, Nara Medical University Hospital
Prior to his death, but immediately after the shooting, the younger brother of former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, told reporters in Tokyo that the former leader received a blood transfusion in hospital because his condition remained “very grave.” His supposed assailant, Tetsuya Yamagami was said to have shot him, from behind, while he was campaigning for his former party ahead of Sunday’s legislative elections.
Abe collapsed in the western Japanese city of Nara around 11:30 a.m. Friday, according to news outlet NHK. One of their correspondents, reportedly heard two gunshot sounds, and saw Abe collapse while bleeding from his chest. The shooting has shocked the nation, where gun violence is rare. Abe, an arch-conservative and one of his nation's most divisive figures, was airlifted to a hospital, but officials said he was not breathing and his heart had stopped. (Katsuhiko Hirano/The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP)
Both Japanese government officials, Defense Minister, Nobuo Kishi, and Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida made public statements regarding the shooting.
“The attack is an inexcusable act, no matter the motivations of the assailant”
- Nobuo Kishi, Defense Minister, Japanese Government
Prime minister Fumio Kishida stated, in an emotional press conference a few hours later, that Abe was-
… in a “very grave condition,” and “Currently doctors are doing everything they can,” then tearfully added that- (he was) “praying from his heart that Mr. Abe would survive” condemning the attack as “barbaric and malicious and it cannot be tolerated.”
- Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister, Japanese Government
On the streets in Tokyo, people stopped to grab extra editions of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper or watch TV coverage of the shooting. The following video, is their immediate reaction of shock and disbelief -
One Breitbart Blogger remembered Abe, as a great U.S. Ally, stating-
“During the Trump administration, Mr. Abe was a staunch and honorable ally. I remember that photo of him seated next to Trump, arms folded and implacable as the globalists were going crazy around them. This is an enormous loss. Rest in peace, Shinzo-san.”
-Dave Conley, Breitbart Blogger
“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus”
-Martin Luther King. Jr