President Joe Biden mourned former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated by a man wielding a handmade gun while he was campaigning in Nara, near Osaka.
“I am stunned, outraged, and deeply saddened by the news that my friend Abe Shinzo, former Prime Minister of Japan, was shot and killed while campaigning,” Biden wrote in a statement. “This is a tragedy for Japan and for all who knew him.”
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Biden recalled having the “privilege” of working closely with Abe since his vice presidency. Biden also remembered Japan’s longest-serving modern prime minister as “a champion of the alliance between our nations” and “the friendship between our people,” promising “his vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific will endure.”
“Above all, he cared deeply about the Japanese people and dedicated his life to their service,” Biden said. “Even at the moment he was attacked, he was engaged in the work of democracy.”
“While there are many details that we do not yet know, we know that violent attacks are never acceptable and that gun violence always leaves a deep scar on the communities that are affected by it,” he added. “The United States stands with Japan in this moment of grief. I send my deepest condolences to his family.”
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Abe, 67, died Friday after the gunman, now in police custody, shot at him twice while he was speaking at an event before Sunday’s House of Councillors elections. Abe was a member of the House of Representatives.
