Gunman shoots clerk over money trouble in Turkish municipality

A gunman in Turkey’s Mediterranean Adana province shot chief clerk Samet Güdük working under Mayor Zeydan Karalar at his office, reportedly due to money trouble. The gunman was revealed to be a municipality employee. Güdük died in hospital later in the day.

Monday February 12 2024 11:37 pm

Duvar English

A gunman on Feb. 12 entered the municipality building and shot chief clerk Samet Güdük in his office in Turkey’s Mediterranean Adana province. Güdük died after he was hospitalized in critical condition.

Police detained the shooter, who was revealed to be a municipality employee working in the “Halk Ekmek” bread factory. Security might not have searched the shooter as he worked in the municipality, according to reporting by the Demirören News Agency (DHA).

The shooter said in his testimony that he shot Güdük because he “scammed him.” Videos of him shooting his gun in the air were found on his social media account.

The governor’s office in Adana stated the cause of the shooting was “money trouble.”

Büyükşehir Belediye Başkanı Özel Kalem Müdür Vekiline Yapılan Silahlı Saldırı Hakkında Basın Açıklaması pic.twitter.com/d32FnGvnHm
— TCAdanaValiliği (@TCAdanaValiligi) February 12, 2024

Mayor Zeydan Karalar said they were shocked at the incident, and the shooter was hired by them. “We are not sure what lies beneath the shooting,” he added.

Police had detained 10 people, including the mayor’s advisor in a December 2023 operation in the opposition-run Metropolitan Municipality, over alleged bribery and bid-rigging charges. Mayor Karalar had refused the allegations and said they conducted “nothing illegal.”