UPDATE-

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has died after being shot while campaigning in the western city of Nara, according to local media

The NHK broadcaster and the Kyodo news agency reported Abe’s death on Friday, hours after the 67-year-old was shot in the chest and the neck.

The outlets cited sources in Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Officials said Abe was shot at about 11:30am (02:30 GMT while he was delivering a campaign speech on the street near a train station in Nara.

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Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was reportedly shot Friday during a campaign speech for a Japanese liberal Democratic Party candidate in the city of Nara.

Shinzo collapsed at around 11:30 a.m. and was immediately transported to the hospital, where he is currently in cardiopulmonary arrest, NHK World-Japan reported. He is scheduled to be transported to Nara Medical University Hospital in Kashihara City.

Authorities said the former prime minister appeared to be hit in the back by a shotgun, the outlet reported. An NHK reporter present at the campaign event said they heard two gunshots and witnessed the former prime minister bleeding.

Close-up video of Japanese former PM Shinzo Abe being shot and the suspect being tackled. pic.twitter.com/QA0Ywupn8Z

— Global: MilitaryInfo (@Global_Mil_Info) July 8, 2022

His condition is currently unknown, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said, according to CNN.

Police arrested a person of interest, reportedly in his 40s, for attempted homicide, the outlet reported. They seized the gun that he allegedly held at the scene.

奈良県の演説中の
安倍元首相が銃で発砲か……
恐らく最後の2発目でやられたか…#安倍 #安倍元総理 #2発 #安倍首相 pic.twitter.com/BDRz23lp5w

— 【公式】フォロバ100です。かかってこいやぁ (@Hiruru95722714) July 8, 2022