A Turkish taxi driver has been hailed as a hero after he wrestled a loaded shotgun from a hostage-taker in his back seat — bringing an 80-kilometre police chase through the streets of Gaziantep to a dramatic end by grabbing the weapon with his bare hands and throwing it out of the car.
Dashcam footage of the extraordinary confrontation, which took place on 10 May, shows driver Ramazan Yildirim, 58, leaping into the back seat as armed suspect Semih C., 31, pointed his rifle at officers who had surrounded the vehicle. The pair wrestle for nearly a minute before a police officer intervenes from behind, seizing the weapon and allowing Yildirim to escape. The footage has since been widely shared online.
The ordeal began after the suspect allegedly shot his brother during a domestic dispute before calling a taxi. Once inside the cab, he forced Yildirim at gunpoint to drive through Gaziantep while firing shots at pursuing police officers. A woman, named only as Gulbahar Y., 36, was also in the vehicle throughout, reportedly too frightened to move.
Officers gave chase after reports came in that the driver had been taken hostage, with the pursuit stretching approximately 80 kilometres before ending near Karacaahmet when Yildirim made his decisive intervention — stopping the car and refusing to drive further before launching himself at the armed man.
Speaking afterwards, the cabbie said: “I grabbed the gun with both hands. I stopped it from hitting the police. When he pulled the gun back inside, I intervened again, took the weapon from him and threw it outside.” He added: “If I had not intervened, either I, he or the police officers would have been harmed.”
Yildirim sustained an injury to his hand during the struggle and required seven stitches.
