Suspect in deadly shooting spree in Afyonkarahisar detained

ESKİŞEHİR

(AA Photo)

The hunt for the suspect accused of killing eight people and injuring another in the western province of Afyonkarahisar has ended in neighboring Eskişehir, where police apprehended the 30-year-old after a brief shootout, authorities have said.

Arif Sefa Özdemir was captured in a rural neighborhood after allegedly stealing several vehicles while attempting to flee. He was stopped after police opened fire on the tires of the vehicle he was driving. Özdemir reportedly fired at security forces during the confrontation, slightly injuring an officer in the ear.

The shooting spree took place at three locations in Afyonkarahisar, where emergency teams found six people dead in the villages of Ayazini and Kıyı. Two female teachers, aged 31 and 46, were also shot in Yukarıtandır village, bringing the death toll to eight. Another person was seriously wounded.

During his escape, Özdemir allegedly posed as an intelligence officer to seize a 19-year-old man’s car. The vehicle later became stuck in mud, forcing him to continue on foot. He subsequently stole another vehicle belonging to a local milk vendor before being intercepted.

The motive behind the killings emerged in Özdemir’s reported initial statement to investigators. He allegedly told authorities that he killed three people over a financial dispute involving the purchase of a combine harvester, while the other five victims were targeted in order to steal their vehicles.

According to his account, Özdemir bought a combine harvester from one of the victims, Ahmet Uzel, last year for 40,000 euros. However, the machine caught fire while working in a field in Izmir and became unusable, leading to a dispute over the outstanding payment. The disagreement allegedly escalated into mutual insults and threats over the phone.

On the day of the shootings, Özdemir allegedly invited Uzel to Afyonkarahisar to settle the debt. Uzel arrived with two other men, and the four met near the exit of Ayazini village. Özdemir is accused of opening fire with a pump-action shotgun following an argument, killing all three men. He then allegedly targeted five other people along his escape route to seize their vehicles, killing them and seriously injuring another person.