TOKYO: former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe collapsed while speaking to a gathering in Nara Prefecture on Friday, state broadcaster NHK said, adding that police has taken a suspect into custody.
The former leader, Abe, who is in a coma, has been taken urgently to the hospital and, according to a representative of the local fire department, looks to have no vital signs.
Around 11.30 a.m., as he was giving a speech for a Liberal Democratic Party candidate's election campaign in Nara city, the incident occurred close to Yamatosaidaiji Station (local time).
A gunshot was heard on-site, and Abe was spotted bleeding, according to the NHK. Police have confirmed that a guy has been arrested in the interim. In Japan, a nation where handguns are prohibited, incidents of gun violence are uncommon.
NHK published two recordings that appeared to show gun smoke rising from behind Abe as he spoke and a security guard tackling a man on the street shortly after. According to local firemen quoted by Kyodo News, Abe was taken to a hospital right away and may have gone into cardiac arrest, Kyodo News said, citing local firefighters.
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