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Shots fired in front of US embassy in Ankara, suspect taken into custody

Published December 20th, 2016 - 08:00 GMT
Turkish soldiers and policemen stand guard near the Cagdas Sanatlar Merkezi, a major art exhibition hall, where Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Ankara, has been shot dead on December 19, 2016 in a gun attack during an art exhibition in Ankara. (AFP/Adem Altan)
Turkish soldiers and policemen stand guard near the Cagdas Sanatlar Merkezi, a major art exhibition hall, where Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Ankara, has been shot dead on December 19, 2016 in a gun attack during an art exhibition in Ankara. (AFP/Adem Altan)

A man fired a few rounds of a rifle into the air in front of the American embassy early Tuesday, hours after the Russian ambassador to Turkey was assassinated here, police said.

Authorities said Sahin S. approached embassy in Ankara's Cankaya district with and fired eight to nine times with the rifle he had concealed in his coat.

He was taken into custody and an investigation is underway, according to police who said extraordinary security measures have been taken around the area.

Russian envoy Andrey Karlov was killed at an art exhibition in the Cankaya district earlier Monday when a gunman opened fire that targeted the diplomat before shooting into the air, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent who witnessed the shooting.

The envoy, who was delivering a speech at an opening ceremony, was taken to a hospital but was later pronounced dead.

Police special forces shot and killed the assailant in an operation that lasted approximately 15 minutes.

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