Special operation police officer kills man, injures another in traffic accident dispute
A group of shopkeepers told a special operation police officer to pull his car to the side of the road and clear the traffic after his vehicle was involved in a traffic. The incident led the police officer in question to open fire on the shopkeepers, as a result of which one person lost his life and another was injured.
Burcu Özkaya Günaydın / DUVAR
A special operation police officer was on Aug. 20 involved in a traffic accident which resulted in his taking his gun out and killing a man and injuring another. The incident happened in the southern province of Hatay.
Sergen Özkanca opened fire initially into the air and then on a group of shopkeepers after he was told to pull his car to the side of the road in an attempt to clear the traffic. Mustafa Şahin lost his life at the scene of the incident, whereas Mehmet Yıldızbaş was heavily injured.
An eyewitness who did not want to give their name told of the incident to Gazete Duvar. “We heard an argument outside, so we went out. The police officer then went to his vehicle and took his gun. Then he started shouting 'I will open fire' and fired two shots in the air,” the eyewitness said.
The eyewitness also said that the police officer pushed victim Mustafa Şahin to the ground as the latter was trying to grab the suspect's gun, and killed him. “Then he randomly started shooting at whoever was next to Mustafa Şahin.”
The eyewitness also said that other police officers who came to the scene of the incident to investigate the incident tried to justify the murder by saying: “The shopkeepers must have attacked the man [suspect], or otherwise why would he shoot at them?”