Armed man stages shooting in restaurant in Turkey: 6 killed, 8 seriously wounded

An armed man killed six people and wounded eight more in southern Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, adding that the search for the perpetrator continues.

Erdogan announced the number of victims in a televised address and expressed condolences, however, he did not provide additional details about the incident, which occurred in the area of the city of Mersin.

State agency Anadolu and the newspaper Sabah reported that the wanted suspect is a 37-year-old man who allegedly first shot his ex-wife and then carried out a series of attacks.

According to agencies DHA and IHA, the man opened fire in the restaurant, killing its owner and an employee, after which he fled and shot two more men — a shepherd who was watching his livestock near the restaurant, and a truck driver.

The shooting took place in the Tarsus district, about 40 km northeast of Mersin, after which police launched a large-scale operation to search for the shooter involving helicopters.

“He entered without saying anything... We thought he was taking out his phone, but he pulled out a gun,” restaurant employee Mehmet Han Topal, who was shot in the leg, told the IHA agency. “I fell. He shot me,” he added.

This incident occurred a month after two shooting incidents involving teenagers in Turkey.

In the first attack, 16 people were wounded, in the second — 10 people died, most of them schoolchildren.

According to a Turkish NGO, citizens of the country have tens of millions of firearms in their hands, a significant part of which are without permits.