Suspect arrested after eight killed in shootings across three Turkish villages

The attacks

Eight people were killed and one more was seriously injured in a series of shootings on Thursday, 5 November, in Afyonkarahisar province, Turkey. The attacks took place in the early evening across three villages, and the victims were found in several locations inside three separate vehicles. Gendarmerie were alerted through the 112 emergency line to reports of gunfire and moved in with police. Anadolu Agency reported that three people were killed near the village of Ayazini and three near Kiyir. Two women found injured in Yukaritandir were taken to hospital, where they later died. Afyonkarahisar lies roughly halfway between Ankara and the coastal city of Izmir.

Victims and the toll

Turkish media reported that two of the dead were women teachers, a detail the BBC relayed with the word reportedly. Another person was found in critical condition and is being treated in hospital, though sources do not say where that person was wounded. Reports citing A Haber and NTV give a different village order, placing three women's deaths in Yukaritandir, three in Ayazini and two in Kiyir. The chart below follows the Anadolu Agency account. The Afyonkarahisar Governorate said in a statement posted on social media that its institutions had been coordinating from the first moment, and it offered condolences to the families of the dead.

“all relevant institutions of our state have been working in coordination since the very first moment”

Ayazini3

Kiyir3

Yukaritandir2

Ayazini

3

Kiyir

3

Yukaritandir

2

Data from the article text

Manhunt and arrest

The suspect fled on foot after abandoning a vehicle that Milliyet reported was later found stuck in mud. CNN Turk reported that he used a shotgun, and Turkish media published CCTV footage showing a man in dark clothing standing beside a red minivan. Earlier reports said a reporter for A Haber had heard the attacker was cornered in neighbouring Eskisehir province, with special forces expected to move in. The Eskisehir governorate later announced that the suspect had been located and arrested after a joint operation by the gendarmerie and police.

Search operation

Police and gendarmerie carried out extensive searches in Afyonkarahisar, Kutahya and Eskisehir provinces. Checks were set up on the main road axes in those provinces. Police also closed the roads leading to the affected villages while the operation to find the suspect was under way. The arrest came after a search that had run for hours across several districts, and the investigation of the attacks continues.