According to medics, former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was the target of an assassination attempt, is “showing no signs of life”, VRKNews.kz reports.
According to emergency service staff, Shinzo Abe is “showing no signs of life”. Some reports suggest he may have suffered clinical death. The attacker, a 40-year-old local resident, has been detained and is being questioned. The man did not resist arrest.
The Japanese TV channel NHK has published footage capturing the moment the former prime minister was shot.
Judging by the footage, the assailant fired at the former prime minister at least twice, in the back, from close range. It is reported that Abe was shot with a shotgun. The former prime minister himself did not see the moment of the attack because he was giving a speech.
Police arrested a man aged about 40 on suspicion of attempted murder and are now questioning him. According to police, they recovered at the scene the weapon the man was apparently holding.
An NHK reporter who was at the scene says Abe was bleeding. The reporter also heard sounds resembling two gunshots.
The scene of the incident is near Yamato-Saidaiji station in the city of Nara.
After the attack on the former prime minister the Japanese government set up a crisis headquarters. The incumbent head of government, Fumio Kishida, urgently arrived in Tokyo.
On 8 July it became known that an attempt had been made on the life of the former Japanese prime minister. The victim was urgently taken to hospital in a critical condition.
