Provincial Police Director Altuğ Verdi was taken to the hospital in critical condition but doctors were unable to save his life, authorities said.
Staff Branch Manager Ercan Polat and two police officers were also wounded in the attack. One police officer has been arrested for carrying out the attack, and is wounded, the official Anadolu Agency said.
Provincial Police Director Altuğ Verdi
“Our deputy secretary and our police chief are on their way to Rize,” Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said, adding that more details of the incident would be provided once they become clear.
The unidentified suspect, who was wounded and arrested, was a Rize policeman who worked in the traffic department. Çeber said the suspect, who was arrested after the attack, was serving in the province’s Derepazarı district and sought a new assignment in central Rize.
“In line with the security procedure, he checked out his pistol in the front desk outside police chief’s room. When his request for reassignment was rejected by the police chief, he returned to the desk, grabbed his gun and stormed into the room,” Çeber said.