Japan ex-PM Shinzo Abe dies after being shot during campaign speech

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a divisive archconservative and one of his nations most powerful and influential figures has died after being shot during a campaign speech Friday in western Japan hospital officials said Abe 67 was shot from behind minutes after he started his speech in Nara He was airlifted to a hospital for emergency treatment but was not breathing and his heart had stopped He was later pronounced dead despite emergency treatment that included massive blood transfusions hospital officials saidPolice arrested the suspected gunman at the scene of an attack that shocked many in Japan which is one of the worlds safest nations and has some of the strictest gun control laws anywherePrime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Cabinet ministers hastily returned to Tokyo from campaign events around the country after the shooting which he called dastardly and barbaricNara Medical University emergency department chief Hidetada Fukushima said Shinzo Abe suffered major damage to his heart in addition to two neck wounds that damaged an artery causing extensive bleeding He was in a state of cardio and pulmonary arrest when he arrived at the hospital and never regained his vital signs Fukushima saidAbe was Japans longestserving leader before stepping down in 2020Public television NHK aired a dramatic video of Abe giving a speech outside a train station in the western city of Nara He is standing dressed in a navy blue suit raising his fist when two gunshots are heard The video then shows Abe collapsed on the street with security guards running toward him He holds his chest his shirt smeared with blood In the next moment security guards leap on top of a man in gray shirt who lies face down on the pavement A doublebarreled device that appeared to be a handmade gun is seen on the groundNara prefectural police confirmed the arrest of Tetsuya Yamagami 41 on suspicion of attempted murder NHK reported that the suspect served in the Maritime SelfDefense Force for three years in the 2000sOther videos from the scene showed campaign officials surrounding Abe The former leader was still highly influential in the governing Liberal Democratic Party and headed its largest faction Seiwakai Elections for Japans upper house the less powerful chamber of its parliament are SundayI use the harshest words to condemn the act Kishida said as he struggled to control his emotions He said the government planned to review the security situation but added that Abe had the highest protectionOpposition leaders condemned the attack as a challenge to Japans democracy In Tokyo people stopped on the street to grab extra editions of newspapers or watch TV coverage of the shootingWhen he resigned as prime minister Abe said he had a recurrence of the ulcerative colitis hed had since he was a teenagerHe told reporters at the time that it was gut wrenching to leave many of his goals unfinished He spoke of his failure to resolve the issue of Japanese abducted years ago by North Korea a territorial dispute with Russia and a revision of Japans warrenouncing constitutionThat last goal was a big reason he was such a divisive figureHis ultranationalism riled the Koreas and China and his push to create what he saw as a more normal defense posture angered many Japanese Abe failed to achieve his cherished goal of formally rewriting the USdrafted pacifist constitution because of poor public supportIn photos Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe shot in chest during campaign eventLoyalists said that his legacy was a stronger USJapan relationship that was meant to bolster Japans defense capability But Abe made enemies by forcing his defense goals and other contentious issues through parliament despite strong public oppositionAbe was a political blue blood who was groomed to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi His political rhetoric often focused on making Japan a normal and beautiful nation with a stronger military and bigger role in international affairsMany foreign officials expressed shock over the shootingAbe said he was proud of working while leader for a stronger JapanUS security alliance and shepherding the first visit by a serving US president to the atombombed city of Hiroshima He also helped Tokyo gain the right to host the 2020 Olympics by pledging that a disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant was under control when it was notAbe became Japans youngest prime minister in 2006 at age 52 but his overly nationalistic first stint abruptly ended a year later also because of his healthThe end of Abes scandalladen first stint as prime minister was the beginning of six years of annual leadership change remembered as an era of iquestrevolving dooriquest politics that lacked stability and longterm policiesWhen he returned to office in 2012 Abe vowed to revitalise the nation and get its economy out of its deflationary doldrums with his iquestAbenomicsiquest formula which combines fiscal stimulus monetary easing and structural reformsHe won six national elections and built a rocksolid grip on power bolstering Japans defense role and capability and its security alliance with the US He also stepped up patriotic education at schools and raised Japans international profileThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever