The U.S. State Department is reporting an ongoing ‘security incident’ and is advising all U.S. citizens to avoid the area until further notice.
BREAKING: The US State Department is reporting an ongoing 'security incident' at the US embassy in Ankara.https://t.co/BP0sSdx0JF
— Conflict News (@Conflicts) December 19, 2016
Also, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, John Bass, has condemned ‘in the strongest terms’ the incident:
Ambassador Bass: I condemn in the strongest terms the heinous attack on Ambassador Karlov tonight.
— U.S. Embassy Turkey (@USEmbassyTurkey) December 19, 2016
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Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, was fatally shot Monday at an art exhibition in Ankara.
DEVELOPING: Turkish media and AP reporting Russian ambassador attacked at art exhibition in Ankara.
— Micah Grimes (@MicahGrimes) December 19, 2016
Per NBC News:
Andrey Karlov was in the midst of speech at a museum in the capital city of Ankara when a man dressed in a suit and tie shouted “Allahu Akbar” and fired at least eight shots, an Associated Press photographer in the audience reported. NBC News has not independently verified that account.
The gunman also said some words in Russian and smashed several of the photos at the exhibition, according to the AP photographer.
Turkish police then shot the gunman dead, the AP said, citing the Turkish station NTV.
Editor’s note: Originally we included the video of the incident in this piece, but have pulled it so we do not give air time to violent acts. Thank you for understanding.
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