Japan's Ex-PM Shinzo Abe Was Just Assassinated Mid-Speech & World Leaders Are In Shock
It's really tough to get a gun in Japan.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe giving a speech. Right: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton and U.S. President Donald Trump at the 2018 G7 summit.
Shinzo Abe, who served as Japan's prime minister for the better part of the last decade, was shot and killed Friday while giving a speech in Japan, government officials say.
The 67-year-old was campaigning in Nara, in western Japan, when someone fired two shots at him, video posted by Japan's public broadcaster shows. Police arrested a suspect at the scene and Abe was rushed to hospital where he ultimately died.
Japanese PM Fumio Kishida described the shooting as a "barbaric act" and said he had "no words," Al Jazeera reports.
Police recovered a double-barreled, seemingly handmade gun at the scene, the Associated Press reports.
Abe first became Japan's prime minister for a stint from 2006 to 2007, then returned for a lengthy run from 2012 to 2020 before deciding to resign from the role.
Abe was a mainstay at major world events for many years, including G7 summits, and often visited with other world leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
He was also right in the middle of that infamous photo of Trump staring down the other G7 leaders at a meeting in Canada in 2018.
The White House said it was "shocked and saddened to hear about the violent attack against former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe," in a statement to CNN and others.
Trump also mourned Abe in a statement on his Truth Social site, and called for his killer to be "dealt with swiftly and harshly."
"Few people know what a great man and leader Shinzo Abe was, but history will teach them to be kind," Trump wrote, per CNN. "He was a unifier like no other, but above all, he was a man who loved and cherished his magnificent country."
The two played golf together several times during Trump's term in office.
Trudeau said Abe's death is "incredibly shocking" and that he is "deeply saddened" by it.
"The world has lost a great man of vision, and Canada has lost a close friend," he wrote. "You'll be missed, my friend."
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also served a lengthy term at the same time as Abe, said she was "deeply shocked and devastated" by the "cowardly and vile assassination," AP reports.
Several other leaders, including Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and many others also shared their shock in statements on Friday.
Tetsuya Yamagami, a man in his early 40s, was arrested on attempted murder charges earlier in the day, before Abe had succumbed to his injuries.
It's rare for someone to assassinate a world leader, but it's even more unusual in Japan, which has some of the world's strictest gun laws.
The country typically sees fewer than 10 gun-related homicides a year in a population of more than 125 million, according to data from the University of Sydney.
This article's left-hand cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.