Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has died age 67 after being shot during a speech on Friday in Nara, Japan, doctors who were treating him have confirmed, according to CNN.
Abe died from excessive bleeding and the bullet that killed him was “deep enough to reach his heart,” doctors at Nara Medical University said in a news conference. Two shots can be heard in video footage of the assassination.
Police have arrested a man in his 40s in connection with the shooting and retrieved what appeared to be a homemade gun, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Abe was the longest-serving Japanese Prime Minister in history. He stepped down as leader in 2020, citing health reasons.
Foreign leaders extend condolences to Japan. The news of Shinzo Abe’s assassination has prompted messages of shock and condolences from foreign leaders, many of whom worked with Abe during the former Prime Minister’s long tenure.
European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Abe “a wonderful person,” adding: “This brutal and cowardly murder of Shinzo Abe shocks the whole world.”