Tokyo CNN  — 

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been rushed to hospital after being shot during a campaign speech in Nara, Japan.

An official from the Nara City Fire Department confirmed to CNN that Abe is in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest.

It means the former prime minister has a sudden loss of heart function and breathing.

Abe was shot while giving a campaign speech on a street in Nara City at around 11:30 a.m. local time, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.

“Former Prime Minister Abe’s condition is not currently known, and we are checking the situation,” Matsuno told reporters at an emergency news briefing at the prime minister’s office.

He said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was on a tour of duty, was immediately informed and will return to his office urgently. Matsuno said he has instructed ministers who are in various parts of the country to return to Tokyo immediately. The prime minister is scheduled to speak later today.

“Such barbaric behavior is unacceptable for any reason and we firmly condemn it. The government will take all possible measures to deal with the situation,” Matsuno said.

According to a Liberal Democratic Party official, Abe was shot in the chest before being rushed to hospital in an ambulance, public broadcaster NHK reported. The former prime minister was then moved to Nara Medical University. He was conscious and responsive while being transported following the shooting, police sources told NHK.

A suspect has been arrested and charged with attempted murder and a gun was retrieved, the broadcaster reported.

CNN has not yet been able to independently verify these reports.

According to Reuters, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Abe’s condition is unknown.

Former Liberal Democratic Party leader, Abe is Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, holding office from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020, before resigning due to health reasons.

An aerial photo showed emergency vehicles at the scene in Nara, and a small crowd gathered on the sidewalk. Video broadcast on NHK showed police wrestling a man to the ground on the street near to where Abe was delivering his campaign speech.

Abe was making the speech in support of LDP candidates ahead of the upcoming Upper House elections scheduled for Sunday. He was due to head to Kyoto and Saitama prefecture, near the capital Tokyo.

The United States Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emmanuel said in a tweet early Friday, “We are all saddened and shocked by the shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.”

“Abe-san has been an outstanding leader of Japan and unwavering ally of the US The US Government and American people are praying for the well-being of Abe-san, his family, & people of Japan.”

This is a breaking story more to follow.