Romanian prosecutors send four Turkish citizens to trial for 2025 Bucharest Old Town shootings

Four Turkish citizens have been sent to trial by the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Bucharest Tribunal in the case of the 2025 shootings in Bucharest’s Old Town. The four allegedly devised and carried out a plan to take revenge on the security guards of a venue.

Prosecutors say that during July–August 2025, the four men formed and implemented a complex criminal plan aimed at revenge against the security guards of a venue in Bucharest’s Old Town following a prior incident. They are now charged with offenses against life committed with illegally held lethal firearms.

One of the men, instigated and assisted by the others, fired, on August 13 and 20, 2025, lethal 9 mm caliber pistols, illegally possessed, at several persons, without causing any victims. The first time, he fired a single shot. On August 20, he fired six shots at the terrace of a club in the Old Town, causing panic.

The 27-year-old man is now accused of attempted aggravated murder, failure to comply with the legal regime of weapons and ammunition, unlawful use of a firearm, and disturbance of public order and peace.

Another man, aged 30, is accused of instigation to attempted aggravated murder, instigation to failure to comply with the legal regime of weapons and ammunition, instigation to unlawful use of a firearm, and instigation to disturbance of public order and peace.

Another man, 20, is investigated for providing the others with logistical support, accommodation, and other forms of assistance necessary for committing the acts. The fourth man, aged 31, was sent to trial for aiding the offender and fraudulent crossing of the state border.

“The evidence established that the defendant, the perpetrator, traveled to the territory of Romania, where he acted in execution of a pre-established criminal plan, using lethal 9 mm caliber pistols, illegally possessed,” the prosecutors stated, according to News.ro.

The acts were premeditated, planned, and aided by the other men in the group.

The investigations were carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Bucharest Tribunal, together with police officers from the General Directorate of Police of the Municipality of Bucharest – the Homicide Service, the Weapons, Explosives and Dangerous Substances Service, the Criminal Investigations Service, and the Violent Criminal Groups Service.

(Photo: Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell Source: US Department of Justice)