A hearse carrying the body of slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrives at his residence in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward on July 9. (Video by Wataru Sekita and Kosuke Hamana)

Photo/Illutration A hearse takes the body of slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to his home in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward on July 9. (Wataru Sekita)

NARA--The cause of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s death was loss of blood, Nara prefectural police announced July 9 after performing an autopsy.

In a related development, Abe’s body was returned to his residence by hearse in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward at 1:36 p.m. that day, as senior officials of his Liberal Democratic Party waited to pay their respects.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida entered Abe’s home shortly afterward and stayed for about 10 minutes.

Results of the autopsy showed that a bullet entered Abe’s upper left arm and tore open an artery below his left and right collarbones, causing severe hemorrhaging, police said.

Abe’s death was confirmed at 5:03 p.m. on July 8 at Nara Medical University Hospital in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, where he was flown by helicopter in a state of cardiac arrest following the shooting.

The autopsy began at 10:40 p.m. and took six hours and 30 minutes, police said.

Police also confirmed that another bullet struck Abe in the neck. There were also signs of another neck injury, but police were unable to determine if it was caused by gunfire.

Two loud shots rang out after Abe began giving a speech on behalf of a candidate running in the July 10 Upper House election near Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara in the late morning of July 8.

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