Just as spectacular as in the film: customer fires from taxi at pursuing officers, driver disarms him at the risk of his own life | News

It was a shock for Ramazan Yıldırım: suddenly a frantic man in his thirties burst into the backseat of his taxi in the Turkish city of Gaziantep. After a spectacular police chase, during which numerous shots were fired, the driver heroically managed to disarm the perpetrator.

The images, which were taken last Sunday with the dashcam, seem straight out of a better action movie. Semih Ç. (31) holds the taxi driver at gunpoint with a gun. Next to him at that moment: his terrified girlfriend Gülbahar Y. (36).

Ç. ignored all warnings from the police. So the crazy ride continued, until Yıldırım got stuck in traffic after a few dozen kilometers.

At that moment, the perpetrator saw no other way out than to fire on the approaching officers. It was the perfect opportunity for Yıldırım to grab the barrel of the gun.

The wrestling match in the taxi gave police officers the opportunity to get closer and Ç. eventually arrest. Miraculously, no one was seriously injured.

Bystanders were able to film how chaotic the intervention was. One volley after another was fired, passing by had to run for their lives.

Yıldırım testified afterwards that he has been a taxi driver for twenty years. Fortunately, he had never experienced such a hellish Hollywood scenario before.

“The call came in just before noon,” says Yıldırım. “When I arrived, he immediately pointed the gun at me. After five kilometers he shot the first time at the police car that was chasing us. Ten kilometers further it happened again. Ultimately I had to stop because the police had set up a barricade. I then tried with all my strength to take the gun away from him.”

The taxi driver ultimately escaped with seven stitches on his hand. “But that doesn’t bother me. The most important thing is that no officer was injured,” he concluded.