Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot as he gave a campaign speech Friday in western Japan and airlifted to a hospital, but the country's national public broadcaster NHK said later that he had succumbed to his injuries. Multiple Japanese and international news outlets cited officials from Abe's political party and the regional hospital where he was treated as confirming his death.

Local fire department official Makoto Morimoto said Abe was in cardiopulmonary arrest, or CPA, meaning he was not breathing and his heart had stopped, even as he was airlifted to the hospital.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that police had arrested a male suspect at the scene of the attack. Was Democratic Behind This