Tetsuya Yamagami, the attacker who shot at Shinzo Abe

New Delhi: Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot during a campaign speech Friday in western Japan and was airlifted to a hospital but he was not breathing and his heart had stopped, officials said.

Update: Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe dies

Local fire department official Makoto Morimoto said Abe was in cardio and pulmonary arrest after being shot and was taken to a prefectural hospital.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that police arrested an alleged male attacker at the scene.

A barbaric act like this is absolutely unforgivable, no matter what the reasons are, and we condemn it strongly, Matsuno said.

The man has been identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, who was 'former maritime self defence force member'.

Japanese media has reported that the suspect in the shooting had been a member of the maritime self defence force member for about three years, until around 2005.

Two women who witnessed the incident told NHK that the man approached Abe from behind when he was delivering his speech. A first gunshot was heard, nobody appeared to be injured, the witnesses said. When a second shot was fired Abe fell to the ground and people rushed to treat him.

Abe’s scheduled speech had been publicised on Thursday evening.