Japan ex-PM Shinzo Abe dies after shooting

Japan's former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo reportedly has no vital signs after being shot on the streets of the western prefecture of Nara. Police arrested a man for attempted murder.

The incident happened Friday morning in Nara City. An NHK reporter was at the scene. She heard two gunshots at around 11:30 local time, shortly after Abe began to speak. She filmed footage which appears to show security guards at the event apprehending someone.

Sources with the investigation tell NHK a gun seized at the scene appeared to be handmade.

Abe was rushed by medevac to a hospital in Kashihara City in the prefecture.

Rescue officials say Abe was wounded and bleeding on the right side of his neck. They say he also has internal bleeding in his left chest and has no vital signs.

Yamagami Tetsuya is under arrest for attempted murder. The 41-year-old suspect lives in Nara City. Defense Ministry officials say he worked for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force for three years until around 2005.

Police say the suspect told investigators that he was dissatisfied with the former prime minister and intended to kill him. But he also reportedly said that he doesn't have a grudge against Abe's political beliefs.

Abe was in the city to support a candidate in this weekend's Upper House election. The local Liberal Democratic Party office says Abe's appearance was decided Thursday afternoon and those details were later released to supporters.

Abe, 67, served two terms as prime minister to become Japan's longest-serving premier before stepping down in 2020 citing ill health.

But he has remained a dominant presence over the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) party, controlling one of its major factions.

His protege, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, faces an upper house election on Sunday in which analysts say he hopes to emerge from Abe's shadow and define his premiership.

Abe has been best known for his signature “Abenomics” policy featured bold monetary easing and fiscal spending.

He also bolstered defence spending after years of declines and expanded the military’s ability to project power abroad.

In a historic shift in 2014, his government reinterpreted the postwar, pacifist constitution to allow troops to fight overseas for the first time since World War Two.

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.