ANKARA - Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay said 3 police officers and 3 "terrorists" were killed in the shooting outside U.S. Consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday.
Atalay told reporters after his meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his office that he would immediately head to Istanbul.
Atalay did not give any detailed information but said police were searching for a car that fled after the incident.
Enis Yilmaz, an eye-witness of the shootout near the police post at the visa entrance of the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, said, "a vehicle moved back and forth. Then I heard several gun shots. I saw that three people jumped out of the car. The other assailant fled with the car."
Speaking to reporters regarding the attack, Governor Muammer Guler said that police found guns and rifles at the scene of the attack.
Guler said that the attack was staged at the main entrance gate of the U.S. Consulate General, publicly known as the "visa gate."
The governor said that the traffic team at the entrance gate intervened when three people approached the checkpoint by a vehicle.
"Three police officers were killed, and one police officer and one traffic police officer were wounded and taken under treatment at the Istinye state hospital," the governor said.
Guler said that three assailants were killed in the scene of the attack.
The governor said that efforts were under way to identify the terrorists, learn about their motive and whether they were members of an illegal organization.
Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into the attack.
(TÇ-AY-BRC)
(GEN)