Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot on Friday, 8th July 2022 while campaigning for a parliamentary election. He was the longest-serving Japanese prime minister in history. This incident has shocked many in Japan, where guns are tightly controlled and political violence almost unthinkable.
Abe, 67, was confirmed dead around five and a half hours after the shooting in the city of Nara, Japan. Police arrested the suspect, named Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, who admitted the crime. He was unemployed and a former member of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force for three years. According to police, the suspect attacked Abe because he believed he was associated with a group Yamagami hated. He used a homemade gun in the shooting. Several other handmade weapons, similar to those used in the attack, had been found after searching the suspect’s house. They also found explosives during the search.
Abe was shot at about 11:30 a.m. local time in Nara. According to officials, he suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of his neck. He was taken to the hospital first by ambulance, then by medical helicopter. According to doctors at Nara Medical University, Abe arrived at the hospital in a state of cardiac arrest at 12:20 p.m. local time. Doctors later said Abe bled to death from deep wounds to the heart and the right side of his neck, despite receiving more than 100 units of blood in transfusions over four hours. He was declared dead at 5.03 pm local time (0803 GMT).
Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe background
Abe was born on Sept. 21, 1954, in Tokyo, to a prominent political family. Both his grandfather and great uncle served as prime ministers, and his father was a former secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party. He became prime minister of Japan twice (2006–2007 and 2012–2020). He has done several reformers in his lifetime
- He advocated reforming the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) by revising Article 9 of the Japanese constitution.
- He was also known for his hawkish foreign policy and a signature economic strategy popularly known as “Abenomics“.
- He had diplomatic relations with nearly all independent nations.
- Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project in India involves the construction of a 505 km bullet train using Japan’s Shinkansen technology of Rs 1 lakh crore
- He plays an important role in achieving sustained economic growth and many more.
What really had happened in the political campaigning?
According to the eyewitness, Abe was giving a speech for a political candidate at a road junction in the southern city of Nara when the attack happened. In the first shot, no one knew what was going on. After the second shot, members of the Security Police tackled Yamagami and pinned him to the ground, and seized his weapon. Abe fell to the ground as bystanders screamed in shock and disbelief. His speech was part of a campaign for his former party, the Liberal Democratic Party, as upper house elections in Japan was going to take place later this week.
It is a very shocking and sad moment for the whole world. Today, Japan has lost one of the great longest-serving politician. This Friday will be remembered as a black Friday in the history of Japan.
