Shinzo Abe, former Prime Minister of Japan and one of the most important political figures in the country’s modern history, died this Friday at the age of 67 after being shot twice in the middle of a campaign rally in Nara, near Kyoto. The former president was rushed to the nearest hospital, in critical condition, and a few hours later the public network NHK confirmed his death on social networks.

“News flash: Official sources say that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has died this Friday. He was shot in the middle of a rally in the city of Nara, near Kyoto,” the radio and television corporation tweeted. through his Twitter profile. The wife of the former head of government, Akie Abe, immediately went to Nara to accompany her husband in the last hours of her life.

The alleged perpetrator of the murder has been identified in the last few minutes. He is a 41-year-old ex-military man who was currently unemployed. Far from fleeing after completing his crime, the still suspect stood still and allowed himself to be seized by the bodyguards and police officers who were monitoring the event. The reasons that would have prompted him to end the life of a politician are unknown at the moment.

The death of Shinzo Abe, who led the country’s destiny from 2012 to 2020, and the terrible circumstances in which it occurred have shocked Japanese society and international public opinion. This is the first crime of this nature committed against a head of government since the times of World War II. Abe, who notably boosted the Japanese economy during his eight years in office based on a program baptized with the name of ‘Abenomics’, aspired to revalidate his deputy act in the legislative elections scheduled for this Sunday.

Japan is one of the strictest countries in the world when it comes to the acquisition and use of weapons, which is why the shocking event that ended the life of Shinzo Abe, the prime minister with the longest mandate in the history archipelago, has generated an understandable outpouring of condolences, as well as expressions of consternation and indignation. Without going any further, Abe’s successor as head of government, Fumio Kishida, has described the crime as “unforgivable”.

“This attack is an act of brutality perpetrated during an election, the very foundation of our democracy, and it is inexcusable,” declared the current Japanese prime minister while trying to hold back tears.