Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, an arch-conservative and one of the most divisive figures in his country, was shot and critically wounded during a campaign speech in western Japan on Friday.
He was airlifted to a hospital, but he was not breathing and his heart had stopped, according to officials.
Police apprehended the suspected gunman at the scene of the attack, which shocked many in Japan, one of the world’s safest countries with some of the strictest gun control laws in the world.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated that Abe was in “grave condition” and expressed hope that he would survive.
Kishida and his Cabinet ministers rushed back to Tokyo from campaign events across the country following the shooting, which he described as “dastardly and barbaric.”