Seven killed in armed attack on Turkish Statistical Institute office in Kars

KARS – Doğan News Agency

Special operations units were immediately dispatched to the Turkish Statistical Institute office in Kars after an ex-employee killed six former colleagues before turning the gun on himself. AA photo

Seven people were killed and several are reported injured after an armed attack on the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) office in the northeastern province of Kars on March 19.

It has been revealed that the assailant was an employee recently fired by TÜİK. He committed suicide right after the raid, which was staged soon after the opening of the office, Kars Gov. Eyüp Tepe said in a statement.

“Someone who was dismissed from his job ran amok and killed six people, before committing suicide,” Tepe said.

The governor also identified the assailant as Veysel Tepe, adding that he was working as a sociologist.

The man took his former colleagues hostage after an argument with the regional head of TÜİK, before killing them. He was reportedly dismissed from his job after an internal investigation at the institute.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party’s mayoral candidate Naif Alibeyoğlu also confirmed that the assailant was a former TÜİK worker.

“He is said to have had some psychological problems. He recently traveled to Diyarbakır and brought a gun from there,” Alibeyoğlu told Hürriyet.

The CHP candidate also said there were a number of injured people at the site. “He first took the bureau head as a hostage. Then he randomly fired here and there, killing six. There are also many people injured,” Alibeyoğlu said.

Special operations units were immediately dispatched to the crime scene after the police were notified of the hostage situation. However, the hostages were killed before the units arrived at the scene, Doğan News Agency reported

The building where TÜİK is located was evacuated after the attack.