An unknown assailant opened fire into the air outside a small Armenian church in Istanbul on Sunday while an Orthodox sermon was being held inside, according to Turkish media.
The church where the incident happened is in Gedikpasa, not far from the official Armenian Patriarchate. Garo Paylan, who was attending the event, said that someone fired seven shots into the air while standing in front of the church’s gate. He said that the congregation panicked and ran outside. Paylan also added that he believed the reason why this happened in front of the smaller church is because there are less security cameras around it as opposed to the street where the patriarchy is located.
He said that the police had arrived at the scene and started investigations to identify the shooter. They were also to review footage from nearby cameras.