Associated Press photographer Burhan Ozbilici summoned the composure to stand his ground and keep taking pictures, and now his image of gunman Mevlut Mert Altintas looming over the body of Ambassador Andrei Karlov was named World Press Photo of the Year.
Ozbilici's image of a political murder's immediate aftermath was part of a series titled "An Assassination in Turkey" that also won the Spot News - Stories category in the prestigious awards.
The photos were captured in the moments before and after Altintas drew a handgun and shot Karlov at an Ankara gallery on Dec. 19 2016.
The gunman shouted: "Don't forget Aleppo! Don't forget Syria!"
In the winning photo, the assassin, wearing a suit and tie, stands defiantly, pistol in his right hand pointed at the ground and with his left hand raised, his index finger pointing upward.
His mouth is wide open as he shouts angrily. The ambassador's body lies on the floor just behind Altintas.
The winning image was among 80,408 photos submitted to the prestigious competition by 5,034 photographers from 125 countries.
The World Press jury awarded prizes in eight categories to 45 photographers from 25 countries.
The eclectic selection of winners in the photo competition's eight categories highlighted the dominant news topics of the last year _ including conflict in Syria and Iraq, Europe's migrant crisis, the death of longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro and the Olympic Games in Rio.
AP photographer Vadim Ghirda, based in Romania, won second prize in the Contemporary Issues - Singles category with an emotionally charged photo of migrants crossing a river as they attempt to reach Macedonia from Greece.
Another AP photographer, Felipe Dana, came third in the Spot News - Singles category for his image of an explosion in Mosul, Iraq.
Santi Palacios won second in the General News-Singles category for a photo that ran on the AP wire of two Nigerian children whose mother died on a rescue boat in the Mediterranean Sea of the coast of Libya.
For the first time, the World Press Photo awards for still images were announced at the same time as those for Digital Storytelling in the categories of:
- Innovative Storytelling,
- Immersive Storytelling,
- Long Form and Short Form.
