Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is in critical condition after being shot.
The 67-year-old politician - who was Japan's longest-serving premier before stepping down in 2020 citing ill health - was shot and seriously injured while campaigning in the city of Nara on Friday (08.07.22).
Current Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida said Abe was in a "critical condition" and added: "Currently doctors are doing everything they can, at this moment. I am hoping and praying that former prime minister Abe will survive this.
Chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said: "Former prime minister Abe was shot at around 11:30 local time (02:30 GMT) in Nara. One man, believed to be the shooter, has been taken into custody. The condition of former prime minister Abe is currently unknown.
"Whatever the reason, such a barbaric act can never be tolerated, and we strongly condemn it."
Former Tokyo governor Yoichi Masuzoe said in a tweet that Mr Abe was in a state of "cardiopulmonary arrest".
The term is often used before a death is officially confirmed in Japan.
However, news agency NHK cited police sources and said Mr Abe was "conscious and responsive" after the attack.
Mr Abe was giving a campaign speech ahead of this Sunday’s upper house elections when he was shot in the chest and the neck and rushed to Nara Medical University hospital.
The shooter - believed to be a Nara man in his 40s who was a member of the maritime self defence force for about three years, until 2005 - did not attempt to flee and was taken into custody at the scene.
Japan has some of the world's toughest gun-control laws and it is believed the weapon used to attack him was homemade.
