Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is dead after being shot while giving a speech in Nara, Japan, Friday morning.

Abe was 67 years old and was shot twice from behind, once in the back and once in the neck. He was admitted to Nara Medical University Hospital in central Japan in cardiac arrest, and doctors were unable to stop the excessive bleeding. Abe was pronounced dead at 5:03 p.m. local time.

Photos of the Shinzo Abe assassination.

2 shots were presumed to be fired from a distance of just 9 feet. Witness tells NHK that Shinzo Abe was shot twice, he fell to the ground. After shooting, the attacker didn't flee, he just stood there.
Suspect is Tetsuya Yamagami, 41. pic.twitter.com/gfdyYyO2X2

— Ultra Paul (@Pauljanz11) July 8, 2022

Local police have arrested the gunman, Tetsuya Yamagami, a man in his 40s. After the shooting, Yamagami did not attempt to flee, and he was wrestled to the ground. His weapon appears to be some type of modified shotgun.

Photo of the suspect that shot Japanese former PM Shinzo Abe. The weapon looks like a custom sawed-off shotgun. pic.twitter.com/Uh91BKLJL1

— Samarth Saraswat (@saraswatsamarth) July 8, 2022

Abe was born into a prominent political family and studied in the United States. From CNN:

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was born on September 21, 1954, in Tokyo, to a prominent political family. Both his grandfather and great uncle served as prime minister, and his father was a former secretary general of the right-leaning Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

He studied politics at Tokyo’s Seiki University and the University of Southern California, but initially entered business, taking a position with Kobe Steel in 1979. Three years later, he became an assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Abe was first elected to Japan’s House of Representatives in 1993, at age 38. He held a number of cabinet positions throughout the 2000s, and in 2003 became secretary general of the LDP. Four years later, he was named the party’s president and became prime minister of Japan.

His first term was marred by controversies and worsening health, and he stepped down as party leader and prime minister in 2007. The end of Abe’s first term opened a revolving door in which five different men held the prime minister post in five years until his re-election in 2012. He stepped down in 2020 citing ill health.

He is survived by his wife, Akie Abe. His brother, Nobuo Kishi, currently serves as the Minister of Defense.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Read more about what is known about the shooting, the assassin, and the reaction of world leaders to the shooting, here.)