Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took his last breath Friday after being gunned down as he was giving a speech in central Japan.
The attack stunned the nation as it happened in the daytime in a nation that is not typically used to gun violence of this sort. He was in critical condition after the attack; however, due to much loss of blood, he was considered dead at 5:03 p.m. local time at the Nara Medical University hospital.
According to doctors, the bullet was “deep enough to reach his heart.”
“We took resuscitative measures but unfortunately died,” a professor at Nara Medical University briefed at a press conference.
During the tragic event, a group of 20 Doctors attempted to save his life; however, they could not stop the bleeding. While in surgery, doctors encountered a bullet wound on his neck and an extensive wound on his heart.
The suspect, who admitted to shooting the former leader, was detained at the scene. The crime doer Tetsuya Yamagam seemed to have used a homemade weapon for the attack.
The 41-year-old was unemployed and held animosity towards a certain group of which he considered Abe was a part.
As officials raided the suspect’s homes, they found and confiscated several handmade pistol-like weapons.
Abe died at 67 years old. He was the former Liberal Democratic Party leader and also served longer than most prime ministers, from 2006 to 2007 and then from 2012 to 2020. He Halted his position in the community due to health reasons while remaining in the public eye showing support to his people.
NHK, a media broadcast platform, caught the incident before the shooting. In the video, Abe was speaking to a small crowd at the Yamatosaidaiji railway station. Two shots can be heard as smoke fills the air. As seen in the photos after the tragic event, people were seen gathering around the leader as he fell to the grown.
US President Joe Biden expressed his shock and compassion for the matter.
“While there are many details that we do not yet know, we know that violent attacks are never acceptable and that gun violence always leaves a deep scar on the communities that are affected by it. The United States stands with Japan in this moment of grief,” Biden announced in a statement.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken named the death of the leader disturbing. In a statement expressing his feelings about Abe, ” He was an extraordinary partner to the United States who brought the relationship between the two countries to new heights.”
The nation is not taking this matter lightly and hired 90 investigators for the case.
