How Japan’s ex-PM Shinzo Abe was assassinated [PHOTOS]

Japan’s longest-serving leader and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died in the early hours of today Friday (July 8) after being shot while campaigning for a parliamentary election, public broadcaster NHK said.

A man opened fire on Abe, 67, from behind with an apparently homemade gun as he spoke at a drab traffic island in the western city of Nara, Japanese media showed earlier.

It was the first assassination of a sitting or former Japanese premier since the days of pre-war militarism in the 1930s.

Speaking before Abe’s death was announced, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the shooting in the “strongest terms” while Japanese people and world leaders expressed shock at the violence in a country in which political violence is rare and guns are tightly controlled.

“This attack is an act of brutality that happened during the elections – the very foundation of our democracy – and is absolutely unforgivable,” said Kishida, struggling to keep his emotions in check.

A fire department official had said Abe appeared to be in a state of cardiac arrest when airlifted to hospital.

Police said a 41-year-old man suspected of carrying out the shooting had been arrested. NHK quoted the suspect, identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, as telling police he was dissatisfied with Abe and wanted to kill him.

Abe was making a campaign speech outside a train station when two shots rang out at about 11:30 am (0230 GMT). Security officials were then seen tackling a man in a grey T-shirt and beige trousers.

“There was a loud bang and then smoke,” businessman Makoto Ichikawa, who was at the scene, told Reuters, adding that the gun was the size of a television camera.

“The first shot, no one knew what was going on, but after the second shot, what looked like special police tackled him.”

Earlier, Kyodo news service published a photograph of Abe lying face-up on the street by a guardrail, blood on his white shirt. People were crowded around him, one administering heart massage.

Gun violence is exceedingly rare in Japan as the country has some of the most stringent gun control laws in the world. Handgun ownership by civilians is completely banned. Civilians may apply for a license to purchase either and air rifle or a shotgun to be used for sport or hunting. According to The Guardian, acquiring a firearm license requires the completion of 13 steps which includes thorough background checks, interviews of family members and neighbors, examination of employment history, mental fitness checks, gun safety courses among other things.

These stringent measures have proved to be effective in almost eradicating gun violence in the country as a University of Washington study shows Japan records only 0.02 firearm homicides per 100,000 people—the lowest among developed nations. In comparison the U.S. reports more than four firearm homicides per 100,000 population.