Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died early Friday after being shot at a campaign event. Abe, who stepped down in 2020 as Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was not himself a candidate but was campaigning for members of his party in elections for the upper house of Parliament.
Abe was shot twice and had no vital signs when he arrived at the hospital, a doctor said.
Authorities had one suspect in custody.
“Abe-san has been an outstanding leader of Japan and unwavering ally of the United States,” U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said in a statement.
Any fatal shooting is rare in Japan, a country with very strict gun laws. In 2018, there were just nine gun deaths in the nation.