Russia's Ambassador to Turkey Shot in Ankara, State Media Reports
UPDATE: 12:11 PM ET
(CNN) The gunman who shot Russia's ambassador to Turkey Monday has been "neutralized," Turkey's official Anadolu news agency reported. It was not immediately clear whether the attacker was killed or captured by police.
Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, was seriously wounded in a shooting Monday at an art exhibition in Ankara, Turkey's official Anadolu news agency reported.
Karlov was giving a speech at the opening ceremony of a photo exhibit when an assailant opened fire, the news agency said.
Images of the scene showed a body on the ground as a man with a pistol stood nearby.
The ambassador began his diplomatic career in 1976 and has been the envoy to Turkey since 2013, according to a profile on the website for the Russian Embassy in Ankara.
Police cars quickly swarmed the scene after the shooting. Authorities haven't said who they believe was responsible for the attack.
The shooting of the ambassador is the latest in a long string of attacks in Turkey this year, although it's the first in recent memory to be directed at a foreign dignitary.
A car bomb exploded near a public bus in the central province of Kayserion Saturday, killing 13 soldiers and wounding 55 people, according to Turkish officials.
The attack came exactly a week after a pair of bombings in Istanbul killed 44 people, including 37 police officers, and injured 155 others. The explosions, which occurred after a heavily attended soccer game at Besiktas Vodafone Arena, were claimed by a Kurdish militant group called the Kurdish Freedom Hawks.
ORIGINAL: 12:03 PM ET
(CNN) Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, was shot Monday at an art exhibition in Ankara, Turkey's official Anadolu news agency reported.
Karlov was giving a speech at the opening ceremony of a photo exhibit when an assailant opened fire, the news agency said.
The ambassador began his diplomatic career in 1976 and has been the envoy to Turkey since 2013, according to a profile on the website for the Russian Embassy in Ankara.
Police cars quickly swarmed the scene after the shooting. Authorities haven't said who they believe was responsible for the attack.
