According to reports, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shows no signs of life after being shot during a Friday campaign rally in the Nara region.

National network NHK and the Kyodo news agency said the former leader was attacked while delivering a campaign speech at an event preceding Sunday's upper house elections.

Mr. Abe, 67, fainted and was bleeding from the neck, according to a Jiji news agency source from his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

According to witnesses, he was shot twice before collapsing to the ground.

According to the Japanese government, Mr. Abe was shot, but his health is unknown.

According to NHK, Mr. Abe was transported to Nara Medical University Hospital in an apparent "state of cardiopulmonary arrest." According to the Associated Press, the term is used in Japan to signify the absence of vital signs and often precedes an official coroner's death certification.

According to multiple news sources, he seemed to have been shot from behind, maybe with a shotgun.

A witness told NHK that the first shot led Mr. Abe to stagger backward and that the second shot caused him to fall to the ground.

Local media said a 42-year-old male was in custody, but no other information was immediately available.

Mr. Abe, the longest-serving Japanese prime minister, served for one year in 2006 and from 2012 until 2020.

The US ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, expressed shock and sadness over the shooting.