A shooting incident occurred at a middle school in Turkey where a student opened fire in two classrooms, resulting in nine fatalities and 13 individuals being injured. The 14-year-old perpetrator, who used firearms believed to be owned by his father, a retired police officer, was killed during the incident. The teenager was found carrying five guns and seven magazines.
The motive behind the attack remains unknown, and it is unclear whether the gunman was killed by law enforcement or if he took his own life. Among the 13 wounded individuals, six were in critical condition, as stated by Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci.
The casualties included three students and a teacher, as confirmed by authorities in an earlier update when the death toll was initially reported as five. This tragic event followed a shooting the previous day in Sanliurfa province, where a former student injured 16 people, mostly students, before committing suicide.
While school shootings have been uncommon in Turkey historically, incidents involving firearms at educational institutions have been on the rise in recent years. Following reports of gunfire at the school in Kahramanmaras’s Onikisubat district, law enforcement and medical personnel were dispatched to the scene. Images from the incident showed individuals being transported to ambulances for medical assistance.
Concerned parents rushed to the school upon learning of the attack, with authorities implementing security measures to ensure the safety of the area.