Shinzo Abe death live updates: Shinzo Abe's body arrives in Tokyo, funeral on Tuesday

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday "shocking" and "profoundly disturbing," describing him as a leader of great vision and an extraordinary partner for the United States.Blinken made the comments at the start of a trilateral meeting with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts on the sidelines of a meeting of Group of 20 foreign ministers in Bali.

News that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been shot in broad daylight Friday shocked not only Japan but the entire world, which has come to associate the relatively low-crime nation with strict gun control.Japan, with a population of 125 million, had just 10 gun-related criminal cases last year, resulting in one death and four injuries, according to police. Eight of those cases were gang-related. Tokyo had zero gun incidents, injuries or deaths during that same year, although 61 guns were seized there.Much remains unclear about the motive and identity of the suspect in Friday's attack, who was taken into custody at the scene. Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was shot while campaigning in Nara in western Japan for candidates for his ruling party and died later in a hospital. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for Sunday.

Former Indian Ambassador to Japan, Sujan Chinoy, on Friday said that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot today during an election speech, was a colossus in the Japanese political landscape and had done a lot for Indo-Japan ties."We woke up to the devastating news that there has been an attempt on the life of Shinzo Abe in Nara. Greatly saddens me to comment on this situation right now. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a colossus who strode and continues to be in our prayers today. He has done such a lot for our bilateral, special strategic and global partnership," Chinoy had told ANI before the news of Shinzo Abe's demise.