File photo taken on July 22, 2019 shows Shinzo Abe attending a news conference in Tokyo, Japan. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is confirmed dead after being shot by a gunman during a speech in the western city of Nara when campaigning for Sunday's upper house election, local media reported.
TOKYO, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died after being shot Friday by a gunman during a speech in the western city of Nara when campaigning for Sunday's upper house election, local media reported.
Abe, 67, fell to the ground and was seen bleeding after he was shot from behind at 11:30 a.m. local time, local police and firefighters said.
He was rushed by medevac to Nara Medical University Hospital, according to local police and emergency services.
Police arrested the suspected gunman Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, a resident of the western city, at the scene.
Yamagami worked for the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) for three years until around 2005, Japan's public broadcaster NHK quoted defense sources as saying.
He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and local police retrieved what appeared to be a handmade gun from the vicinity of where the former prime minister was shot, according to government reports.
