In a major development, the Japanese Police have identified the suspect arrested for shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old resident of Nara City.

According to the local media, Yamagami is being held for questioning at the Nara Nishi police station and reportedly he appears to have made the gun himself and had entered the assembly becoming a jourmnalist.

“While the police authorities were nabbing the assailant, the man did not attempt to run away,” stated the officials.

The official further stated that police has detained the assailant and retrieved a gun from the scene.

As per the Kyodo news agency citing Japanese police, Abe appeared to have been shot from behind with a shotgun.

Abe was campaigning on a street for Liberal Democratic Party candidate at the House of Councillors election, scheduled this Sunday when he collapsed at around 11: 30 am after people on the scene heard what sounded like a gun going off twice, local media reported.

He is longest-serving Prime Minister of Japan and had stepped down in 2020 citing health reasons. He was twice sworn in as Japan PM from 2006-07 and again from 2012-20. He was succeeded by Yoshihide Suga and later by Fumio Kishida.

Meanwhile, prayers started pouring in from across the world from various world leaders.

Starting from Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who in his live address to the country said that the condition of Abe was grave.

“This is not a forgivable act,” Kishida said adding that authorities would “take appropriate measures to handle the situation.”

“China is shocked by the shooting of Shinzo Abe, extends condolences to his family and hopes he will be out of danger and recover soon,” a foreign ministry spokesman told a daily briefing in Beijing on Friday.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply distressed” by the attack on his “dear friend Shinzo Abe”.

Shinzo Abe shares a deep bond of friendship with PM Modi which was quite evident in the meeting between both leaders in the month of May.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was “deeply saddened.”
“I do have to say before we meet how deeply saddened and concerned we are by the news coming from Japan about the attempt on the life of Prime Minister Abe,” Blinken said.

“We don’t know his condition … Our thoughts, our prayers, are with his family, with the people of Japan. This is a very, very sad moment and we are awaiting news.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote in a Twitter post.

“PM Abe is a great and wise friend of Australia and one of the most important global leaders of the post-war era. Our prayers are with him, his wife Akie and the people of Japan at this very difficult time,” Morrison wrote.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard wrote on Twitter that he deeply regrets the shooting. “We hope that he can overcome the serious medical situation in which he finds himself,” he wrote.

Former US President Donald Trump shared his well wishes for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on his social media platform Truth Social, calling the shooting “absolutely devastating news.”

Abe “was a true friend of mine and, much more importantly, America,” Trump wrote.

Britain’s new finance minister Nadhim Zahawi sent his condolences on Friday to Japan in the mistaken belief that former prime minister Shinzo Abe had died after being shot by an attacker, although Abe is still alive. Zahawi, appointed on Tuesday as the government of British prime minister Boris Johnson started to collapse, later deleted the tweet, quoted Reuters.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg expressed shock at the attack on Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe and said the defence alliance stood by Japan and its government under current premier Fumio Kishida.

At the ongoing G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov expressed sympathy to Tokyo over the attack on former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, Sputnik reported.

S Jaishankar, external affairs minister said, “Deeply shocked by the news about former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. Join so many of his friends and admirers in India in praying for him and his family:.”