The bombing took place at 09:17 (UTC+3)[1] in front of the police headquarters[2] along the thoroughfare Prof. Dr. Muammer Aksoy Boulevard.

[5] Gaziantep Police had recently conducted a number of operations against active Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Islamic State (IS) cells in the city.

[1] The bombing took place around 10 metres away from the police headquarters, near Demokrasi Square where the governor's office, town hall, Kamil Ocak Stadium and a number of businesses are located.

[1] According to Arif Ekici, a member of parliament of the Republican People's Party representing Gaziantep, the death toll would have been much higher if not for a policeman who saw the incoming vehicle that carried the bomb and opened fire, alerting his colleagues in time.

[5] According to Habertürk, the suspected perpetrator of the attack was the IS, with the possible assailant being İsmail Güneş, whose father was arrested.