Telk Avenue shooting

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Telk Avenue shooting
Location 90 Telk Av.
Keszanetaa, Rskz.
Date 14 September, 1976
Target Pažem Tuszkeya headquarters
Type Mass shooting
Deaths 12
Nonfatal injuries 38
Pepetrators Horazseje Jeyina and Verla Soroyiz
Motive Anti-Tuszkean extremism

The Telk Avenue shooting (also known as the Telk tragedy) was a terrorist attack against the party headquarters of the Pažem Tuszkeya that occurred on 14 September, 1976 when two radical Kryfona shot up an assembly that was taking place at the headquarters, killing twelve and injuring thirty-eight. The attack impacted the party severely: although in the previous year's parliamentary elections they had won a record thirteen seats, during the next election the Pažem won just four, and would not even approach its high-water mark again until the 2011 elections. It is widely considered one of the worst politically motivated terrorist attacks in the history of the Kryfona Kingdom.

Background

Tuszkean representation in the government of the Kryfona Kingdom has always been a touchy issue both with Tuszkeans and Kryfona since the incorporation of the Tuszke State into the Kryfona Kingdom in the aftermath of the Tuszke War. Prior to the overruling of the "Impurity Laws" in 1605, Tuszkeans were not allowed in any capacity to serve in government or in choosing the new king of the Kingdom, as were all other non-Standard Kryfona groups. Even after these rules were struck down, however, Tuszkean participation in the government was stigmatized, and in some governments, actively opposed. Even under relatively progressive regimes in fact, such as those of Kghyilda Svariyantina and Rogdin Lunaerterijalis, it was not unusual to see Tuszkeans barred from holding positions of any kind. The first truly Tuszkean-accepting Kryfona regime came only in 1806, with the rise of half-Tuszkean Trenjiasov Mikoszaakide, and it was not until Werykoev Ceudininkon that Tuszkean participation in government was codified.

Nonetheless, Tuszkean representation in government was very slow going. The first Tuszkeans to be elected into power came to power in the 1903 elections, nearly a hundred years after the government became sympathetic enough to allow them to take office. Even then, these Tuszkeans were all elected by their fellow Tuszkeans within the confines of Tuszkean-majority Reriskzeiy and its capital of Keszanetaa; the few Tuszkeans who ran outside of these majority areas were soundly defeated, if they were even allowed to campaign at all. It would take another twenty-four years for a Tuszkean--the 17-year-old eventual Pažem member Sobreiňe Hýga--to be elected to any position in a constituency with a non-Tuszkean majority.

Rise of the Pažem and Extremism

The groundwork for the party that would become the modern Pažem Tuszkeya began with the founding of the Tuszkeyan Movement, known better as the Tuszkeyazi Akhiže. Founded in 1927, the movement was functionally the first grassroots movement organized by Tuszkeans and for Tuszkeans, and in doing so it paved a path for the cementation of Tuszkeans within the government of the Kryfona Kingdom. Noble though this cause was, the Akhiže attracted massive criticism, particularly from the then-significant bloc of Impurists which still existed within the Kingdom. Violence was also directed at the group: in 1930, the Akhiže's founder was assassinated in Keszanetaa, and the organization's headquarters, founded several blocks down the road on Telk Avenue at the 500 Telk Av. address, was firebombed repeatedly between 1932 and 1943. Nevertheless, by 1950, offshoot organizations such as the Orga Ižovarýn and the Tuszkeyazi Nasieňala had been established and took the lead in advocacy on behalf of the Tuszkean population.

Attack

Fatalities
Ozijma Diž
Výka Soreiheňa
Janýisa Varogan
Raona Vadirin
Esina Družir
Vanat Družir
Yeissem Heidise
Garöne Feizare
Ileren Sohare-Vedraszne
Gežom Drabizsa
Saýane Saýeja
Heriz Medin


During the mid-day of 14 September, 1976, several MPs of the Pažem Tuszkeya and a large group of their Keszanetaan constituents assembled for a "town hall" of sorts. Security at the assembly was light, with just a few guards and some policemen mobilized both inside and outside of the building, although compared to a typical Pažem event this security would have been considered heavy. Telk Avenue itself was also not barricaded to traffic--this action being seen as unnecessary within the mostly homogeneous confines of downtown Keszanetaa--and as such travel on the road occurred throughout the duration of the meeting.

At around 12:25 PM, a small car drove by the two-story headquarters of the Pažem, occupied by Jeyina and Soroyiz. The pair first approached the building from the right side of the road--presumably to scope it out--which put them on the far side of the street from the building. A minute later, they turned the car around, and drove back on the left side of the road. The pair then stopped the car directly in front of the building, pulled out their weapons, and opened fire on the building.

The first shots were probably the most deadly--the assembly was being held on the ground floor and the front of the building was where many of the attendees and all of the MPs were. Ozijma Diž of the 1st Keszanetaa constituency and Výka Soreiheňa of the 1st Hiy constituency were both hit in the initial salvo and died instantly. Janý Meodhem of the 2nd Keszanetaa constituency was also hit twice, but survived. All of the other MPs were uninjured. Several civilians were also killed in the initial salvo, including the wife of the mayor of Keszanetaa Janýisa Varogan.

The second salvo is generally considered to have been the one which caused most of the injuries. By the time Jeyina and Soroyiz reloaded, the few security guards and police had either scurried to get people away from the front of the building or sought to confront them. At least one officer who was injured in the second salvo managed to get close to the two, and apparently exchanged several shots with them in the process. While the two got most of their second clip off, the fire from the officer rendered their hail of bullets largely ineffective, and many of them sailed harmlessly over the head of those trapped in the front of the building. Nevertheless, at least two more people were killed by the gunfire.

By the time the two were through their second salvo, the attack had gone on for about three minutes. Realizing that the police would soon arrive, Jeyina began to fall back to the car while Soroyiz fired off at least another half a clip. None of the bullets in this clip were directed at the building--rather, they were aimed at several of the guards who had taken cover on the sides of the building. Nobody was injured. At this point, Soroyiz also fell back to the car and hopped in the back. Before the car took off, however, Soroyiz threw a large explosive device which had been on the floor of the car onto the sidewalk in front of the building. The car then sped off, while the explosive landed harmlessly on the sidewalk: it was a dud.

Help was quick to arrive: police were on scene within ten minutes, and medical aid was on scene within fifteen. By that time, however, panic had spread throughout the building and the confirmed death toll stood at eight, with thirty wounded. In the chaos, at least ten of the thirty injured had been hurt not by bullets but because of the panic which had spread throughout the building. It took almost an hour for calm to be restored by police and for the building to be evacuated, by which point two additional Tuszkeans had bled out and died on-scene. Forty Tuszkeans and Kryfona were ultimately taken to the hospital and treated for wounds, one of which died that night and another of which died on 17 September, 1976, bringing the final death toll to twelve.

Despite the relatively low death toll, the shooting had a massive impact on the Pažem Tuszkeya and the Tuszkean political movement in general. Standing MPs Diž and Soreiheňa were killed, along with well known advocate of the movement and wife of Keszanetaa's mayor Janýisa Varogan. MP Meodhem was also wounded severely in the attack, and MP Kosmi Noňa was lightly wounded in the resulting panic. A community organizer for the Pažem, thirty-three year old Gežom Drabizsa, was the final fatality. Vanat Družir, a Keszanetaa native, was the youngest victim, aged just sixteen.

Response

See also: Kryfonsparliszaiye boycott

News of the attack spread extremely quickly around the Kingdom. The first news reports on the attack went live just an hour later, when the death toll was still unclear. Most of the Kryfonsparliszaiye's MPs, including the other Pažem MPs, found out roughly an hour after the attack when a message courier entered the chamber a few minutes before a scheduled debate was to occur. The MPs immediately adjourned, and the Pažem's MPs quickly returned to Keszanetaa. Sathe Varogan, the mayor of Keszanetaa, released a statement at 2 PM, stating that he was "deeply saddened" by the apparent tragedy, and that "the Keszanetaan police and the KSE are working to investigate this tragedy and bring to justice those responsible." The husband Varogan was apparently unaware of the fate of his wife when the statement was released.

Tyeri Awaseq, then King of the Kryfona Kingdom, was notified of the attack shortly after 2:25 PM. He had been across the border in the Arieles Kingdom at the time, and had just gotten out of a meeting with members of the Arieles Security Department when he received word of the attack. He was immediately transported back to Nylzsryf, and on the way penned a quick statement for immediate release. This statement was released at 3 PM when he arrived in Nylzsryf, and was the first acknowledgement of the attack by the government. Subsequent announcements by the Kryfona Agency of Central Intelligence (KSE) and the Department of Defense (VAS) came at 3:10 and 3:25 PM respectively, announcing that an active investigation was underway and that all citizens should be on high alert, particularly in Reriskzeiy Province.

See also