Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe Shot At A Campaign

"He was giving a speech, a man came from behind," says witness

Tokyo: Dark clouds of mourning shrouded Japan as Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was dead after being shot twice at a campaign event in the Nara region. To an official report, he was "showing no vital signs" when he was taken to the hospital.

After the heartwrenching incident, Chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters, "Former prime minister Abe was shot at around 11:30 am in Nara. A man in his 40s, believed to be the shooter, has been taken into custody. The condition of former prime minister Abe is currently unknown."

According to the NHK and the Kyodo news agency said, Shinzo Abe had been delivering a speech at an event ahead of Sunday's upper house elections when gunshots were heard.

Taking notes from a woman witness told NHK, "He was giving a speech and a man came from behind."

"The first shot sounded like a toy. He didn't fall and there was a large bang. The second shot was more visible, you could see the spark and smoke," she added. "After the second shot, people surrounded him and gave him a cardiac massage."

67 years old, Shinzo collapsed and was bleeding from the neck, a source from his ruling Liberal Democratic Party told the Jiji news agency. Neither the LDP nor local police were able to confirm the reports.

NHK and Kyodo reported the former PM was taken to hospital and appeared to be in cardo-respiratory arrest -- a term used in Japan indicating no vital signs and generally preceding a formal certification of death by a coroner.

As several media outlets reported, he appeared to have been shot from behind, possibly with a shotgun.

Japan has some of the world's toughest gun-control laws, and annual deaths from firearms in the country of 125 million people are regularly in single figures.

Getting a gun licence is a long and complicated process even for Japanese citizens, who must first get a recommendation from a shooting association and then undergo strict police checks.