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Associated Press photographer Burhan Ozbilici was covering what he thought was going to be an everyday photo-op with Andrel Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at a photo gallery in Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Monday.

It was anything but.

In a first-person account for the AP, Ozbilici later Monday shared what it was like to capture images of the scene just as the ambassador was shot and in the harrowing moments following the shooting despite the danger. (Karlov, 62, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead and police killed the shooter, identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas, in a shootout.)

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He described the terrifying situation.

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"The gunshots, at least eight of them, were loud in the pristine art gallery. Pandemonium erupted. People screamed, hid behind columns and under tables and lay on the floor. I was afraid and confused, but found partial cover behind a wall and did my job: taking photographs," he wrote.

AP photographer Burhan Ozbilici took photos of Mevlut Mert Altintas during the attack on Andrei Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, at a photo gallery in Ankara, Turkey.Credit: AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici

The photographer even captured the would-be gunman just before the assassination. Ozbilici said when he looked at the photos later and saw the shooter behind the ambassador, he was shocked how much he looked "like a friend, or a bodyguard."

Andrei Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, pauses during a speech at a photo exhibition in Ankara  moments before a gunman opened fire on him.Credit: AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici

Ozbilici said he learned that the gunman, identified as 22-year-old Altintas, had been shouting about Aleppo and Russia's military role in the ongoing Syrian civil war, but at the time Ozbilici could only tell that he was "agitated" and speaking in Arabic. (The AP reported he shouted in both Turkish and Arabic.)

He was overwhelmed by the situation, but not for long, "It took me a few seconds to realize what had happened: A man had died in front of me; a life had disappeared before my eyes."

After snapping several shots of the shooter, dying ambassador and the scared crowd, the photographer was escorted out of the building with other attendees at the event. He made it out safely, but he said while it was happening he thought of "friends and colleagues who have died while taking photographs in conflict zones over the years."

People crouch in a corner after Karlov, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, was shot at a photo gallery in Ankara, Turkey.Credit: Photo/Burhan Ozbilici

On the social travel network Wayn, Ozbilici has a profile filled with photos -- many of them with a camera in hand. He profile describes himself as a 56-year-old Turkish man living in Ankara. His "about me" section says, "I always believed (and experienced) that the most important thing in life is to be happy and to be able to make good people (or just your friends) happy!"

The Turkish photograph is being lauded for his bravery.Credit: Burhan Ozbilici/wayn/screengrab

People took to Twitter to share their admiration for the photographer and how brave he was for catching a terrifying moment in history.

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