Russian ambassador shot dead by off-duty Turkish cop
- 7 years ago
ANKARA, TURKEY — Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was assassinated by an off-duty police officer at an art exhibition in Ankara on Monday evening.
Ambassador Andrei Karlov was giving a speech at an art gallery when he was gunned down. The gunman was identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, a riot police officer in the Turkish capital. The gunman used his police identification to enter the event, Al Arabiya reported.
Altintas was seen standing behind Karlov posing as a bodyguard, while the ambassador was giving his speech. Several minutes into the speech, Altintas opened fire at Karlov from behind. He also shot the envoy at least one more time at close range after he collapsed to the floor.
Police officers killed the gunman about 15 minutes after the shooting. At least three other people were injured in the assault on the envoy.
It is not clear if the gunman was associated with any terrorist groups. However, after shooting the ambassador Altintas shouted in Arabic: “God is great! Those who pledged allegiance to Muhammad for jihad. God is great!”.
He then switched to Turkish and shouted: “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria!”
Ambassador Andrei Karlov was giving a speech at an art gallery when he was gunned down. The gunman was identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, a riot police officer in the Turkish capital. The gunman used his police identification to enter the event, Al Arabiya reported.
Altintas was seen standing behind Karlov posing as a bodyguard, while the ambassador was giving his speech. Several minutes into the speech, Altintas opened fire at Karlov from behind. He also shot the envoy at least one more time at close range after he collapsed to the floor.
Police officers killed the gunman about 15 minutes after the shooting. At least three other people were injured in the assault on the envoy.
It is not clear if the gunman was associated with any terrorist groups. However, after shooting the ambassador Altintas shouted in Arabic: “God is great! Those who pledged allegiance to Muhammad for jihad. God is great!”.
He then switched to Turkish and shouted: “Don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria!”