Officer arrested over suspect’s death

ISTANBUL

A police officer has been arrested over the death of a suspect in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul. An investigation was launched after Çetin Kaya was shot dead while the police tried to detain him on Nov. 29.

“Police units on patrol chased a suspicious car which avoided warnings to stop. The police initially managed to cut off the vehicle on the Fahrettin Kerim Gökçay Avenue in the Göztepe neighborhood. One individual in the vehicle’s passenger seat escaped while the driver, Çetin Kaya, resisted the police as they tried to restrain him,” said the Istanbul Governor’s Office in a statement.

According to the Governor’s Office, during the scuffle, one police officer’s gun went off and Kaya died on the scene.
The police officer, who was detained after the incident, told the prosecutor that while he and his colleagues wrestling to handcuff the suspect, Kaya tried to reach out to grab the officer’s gun.

“At that moment, the gun went off,” the officer said, dismissing that he intentionally fired.

However, the prosecutor referred the police officer to a court for voluntary manslaughter. He was arrested and sent to prison pending trial.

The other suspect was later captured and during the search drugs were seized in the suspects’ vehicle, said the Governor’s Office.