Accompanied by Assistant Police Chief Levent Gökçedağ and police officials Sabit Akın Zaimoğlu and Zülfikar Sökmen, Kesmez traveled to the Yeşilevler neighborhood, where the Yıldız family resides. As they disembarked from their vehicle to walk up to the family residence, they were met by a group of neighborhood children, who asked the officers, “Are you going to find Akif's killers and beat them up?” The officers replied: “We're going to catch him, handcuff him and take him to prison. Don't you worry, we're not going to beat the bad guys up, but we're going to make sure that they're punished.”After speaking with the children for a while, Kesmez and his delegation went to the family home and offered their condolences to the young boy's grandfather, Durmuş Karabekiroğlu, uncles Murat and Bekir Karabekiroğlu and other relatives. The grandfather embraced the officers and tearfully said: “First we buried his father and now my grandchild. You have to find those responsible.” Kesmez replied by saying, “Don't worry, we're going to bring you news that the perpetrator has been caught as soon as possible.”
‘As if it happened to our own child…’
Kesmez reaffirmed that the police were doing their utmost to find the person responsible, saying: “No matter how difficult the task, my staff and I will work night and day until the perpetrator is found and brought to justice. We've found a bullet casing, and we're expanding our investigation. We're going to search and re-search the crime scene, collect evidence and slap handcuffs onto the person responsible and bring him to justice. I promise you this. We also have children. We're acting as if this had happened to our own child. Everyone is working with their own children in mind.”
Kesmez also emphasized that this was yet another incidence of tragedy resulting from the tradition of firing gunshots into the air. “What goes up must come down,” he said, stressing that at soccer matches, weddings and circumcision ceremonies the practice of shooting guns into the air has resulted time and again in property damage and often disabling and fatal accidents from stray bullets. “Adana is among Turkey's safest areas, but unfortunately upsetting incidents like this remain widespread. We need to go beyond just finding the perpetrator of this incident. … We need to work hand-in-hand with the public and bring the issue of firing guns in celebration to the agenda. We are all responsible in this regard. Citizens must let us know of our [police] shortcomings in this regard. We all need to warn those around us who use weapons.”
