This 2016 photo shows then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam’s Kilo Pier in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Kent Nishimura | Getty Images
Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan, has died after being shot while delivering a speech Friday.
The Nara Medical University Hospital, where Abe was taken for medical treatment after the shooting, confirmed his death Friday evening, Japan time.
The 67-year-old former prime minister was shot while delivering a speech in the city of Nara, near Kyoto.
Abe, who was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was campaigning on behalf of the governing LDP ahead of elections for the country’s upper house Sunday.
Current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the attack was “a despicable and barbaric act that took place in the midst of an election, which is the foundation of democracy,” adding that it is still being investigated.
The incident has sent shockwaves through Japan, a country where gun violence is extremely rare.
Abe resigned as prime minister in August 2020, after serving two terms, due to his worsening health.
The former prime minister sought to revive Japan’s economic growth through a range of stimulus policies known as Abenomics, though analysts said it has had mixed results for the world’s third-largest economy.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated shortly.