We are pausing our live coverage of the assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov. Here's a round-up of what we know:

• Mr Karlov was shot dead by a gunman as he was speaking at a photo gallery in Ankara;
• The attack was apparently in protest at Russia's involvement in Aleppo;
• The gunman has been identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas, a police officer at Ankara's riot police. It is not clear if he acted alone or had links to any group;
• Turkey has condemned the attack, saying it will not allow it to harm bilateral relations.
• Read our story here.

The sister and mother of the gunman who shot the Russian ambassador have been detained in the western Turkish city of Aydin, Reuters quotes local media as saying. 

Bahar Bakir, the diplomatic correspondent for the Haberturk Newspaper, was in the art gallery in Ankara when the shooting happened, and has described what he saw.

"A person who shouted 'Allah-u Akbar' [God is great, in Arabic] behind the ambassador said: 'You killed civilians in Syria, you will not get away with this'," he said.

"He took out his gun and pointed it at the ambassador first and then to everyone else in the room. We lay down in panic. I saw the attacker pointing the gun towards [the] ceiling and the ambassador lying on the ground unfortunately. 

"The exhibit hall was on second storey and I went down running. I saw wounded people who fell on the ground with me." 

Image source, AP

It is not clear whether the gunman was a lone operator, Reuters news agency says.

Analysts say he may possibly have been motivated by popular discontent over Russian actions in Syria - Moscow is a strong ally of President Bashar al-Assad and has supported Syrian forces with air power - or affiliated to the group known as Islamic State, which has carried out a string of bomb attacks in Turkey over the last 12 months.

Which ever is the case, the news agency says, the incident raises concerns about a police force currently being purged after a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July.

Turkey's Interior Minister has confirmed that the gunman who shot and killed Russia's ambassador to Turkey was a police officer at Ankara's riot police.

He has been identified as Mevlut Mert Altintas, born in 1994, AP news agency reports.

The ministry added that three other people were wounded in the attack, none in serious condition. And that one had already been released.

Image source, AFP

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has condemned the "lowly terrorist attack" that killed the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov.

In a statement, it says it will not allow the incident to "cast a shadow" over its friendship with Russia.

It also pays tribute to the ambassador as being a well respected diplomat.

The killer was said to be an off-duty Turkish policeman. Media in Turkey said he was later "neutralised" by police.

Other Turkish officials have strongly condemned the attack.

Relations between the two countries have been fraught recently, especially after a Turkish plane shot down a Russian jet close to the Syrian border.

But, on a political level, both governments have been co-operating, at least, in the ceasefire operation in the Syrian city of Aleppo.  

A major police operation followed the killing of Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, who was shot and killed by a gunman at a photo gallery in Ankara.

Image source, AP

Image source, AP

Image source, Reuters

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More from Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who says "it's a huge loss to us". 

"It's a loss to the whole world because our ambassador to Turkey focused a huge part of his efforts over the past few years on making a contribution to the Syria settlement and stability in the region," Ms Zakharova says on state-run Rossiya 24 TV.

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Syria has condemned the "cowardly terrorist act that killed Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov", according to Syrian state-controlled TV.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken on the phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after the shooting, Reuters reports, quoting CNN Turk. 

Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek confirms on Twitter (writing in Turkish) that the attacker is a policeman.

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"There will be no fresh cooling in relations between Moscow and Ankara, no matter how strongly our strategic opponents in Ankara and the West want this," said Leonid Slutsky, who heads the international affairs committee of the Russian Duma.

"This is not going to happen. There are differences between us. It's a horrendous tragedy, but relations between our states will not suffer."  

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has condemned the "cowardly" and

"despicable" murder of Russia's ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov.

Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper, external provides more details of the shooting.

It says the attacker first fired into the air and later shot the envoy in the back. 

More shots were heard after the area was evacuated, Hurriyet says, quoting reports that the attacker entered the scene by showing a police identity card.  

The gunman who shot Mr Karlov was an off-duty police officer who worked in Ankara, two security sources told Reuters news agency. 

The reports have not been confirmed. 

Footage has captured the moments after the gunman fatally shot the Russian ambassador. 

You can see him here shouting: "Don't forget about Aleppo, don't forget about Syria!"

Murdered Russian diplomat Andrei Karlov began his career as a diplomat in 1976, working extensively in North Korea for more than 30 years before being transferred to Ankara in 2007, according to the Russian embassy's website. 

He became ambassador in July 2013.

Image source, Reuters

Negotiations about the future of Syria involving Russia, Iran and Turkey will go ahead in Moscow on Tuesday despite Mr Karlov's killing, the Interfax news agency quoted senior Russian parliamentarian Leonid Slutsky as saying. 

US State Department spokesman John Kirby says Washington is aware of reports about the attack on the Russian ambassador.

"We condemn this act of violence, whatever its source," Mr Kirby said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family."

The shooting took place as thousands of people, including dozens of orphans, left Aleppo in one of the besieged Syrian city's biggest evacuations since they were resumed as part of a ceasefire deal last week. 

More than 4,500 civilians have left rebel-held parts of eastern Aleppo so far on Monday. 

Russia says that 20,000 rebel fighters and civilians have reached rebel-held territory since the evacuations got under way.