On Friday morning, Mr. Abe was shot twice while delivering a speech in Nara, a city in Japan’s south.
He was transported to the hospital as soon as he fell. He appeared to be bleeding from the wounds captured on camera.
At the scene, the gunman was tackled by security authorities, and the suspect, 41 years old, was taken into custody by police.
A few hours later, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters in an emotional press conference that Prime Minister Abe was in an “extremely severe condition.”
As of now, doctors are doing all they can, said Mr. Kishida, who appeared to be in tears, and added that he was “praying from his heart” for Mr. Abe’s survival.
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Assailants ambushed Mr. Abe as he spoke to campaign supporters for a local politician near Nara’s busiest intersection.
Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a man firing twice at Mr. Abe from behind while holding what they described as a heavy gun.
The Gunmen were apprehended and their weapon, which was apparently a homemade gun, was recovered by security personnel after they made no attempt to flee.
Tetsuya Yamagami, a Nara resident, has been named as the suspect. Reportedly, he served in Japan’s military’s maritime self-defense force, which is the country’s version of its navy.
On the campaign trail for his previous party, the Liberal Democratic Party, as upper house elections in Japan are scheduled for later this week, Mr. Abe gave a speech on Thursday.
As a result of this, local media sources stated that all of the country’s ministers had been ordered back to Tokyo immediately.
Many Japanese social media users expressed their outrage and disgust at the incident using the hashtag “We want democracy, not violence.”
