A witness of the shooting of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo in Nara City has told NHK bits of debris flew through the air after he heard a sound like a bomb going off.

He said, "Things like pieces of plastic came flying at me over a crowd of people. They were chunks of plastic, something in the shapes of cylinders. They were about 5 centimeters long."

The man was filming a video of Abe, who started to make a speech.

The video captures a man approaching Abe from behind and appearing to fire his first shot.

White smoke fills the air and the former prime minister looks behind himself. The man fires again and Abe collapses.

The witness said, "It was a loud sound so I thought it was a bomb explosion."