Turkey rocked by two mass school shootings in two days, at least nine killed

Turkey has been shaken by two school shootings in two days that have left nine dead and dozens wounded.

On Wednesday, an eighth-grade student opened fire at his middle school in the eastern city of Kahramanmaras, killing eight students and one teacher, the city’s governor, Mukerrem Unluer, said during a live broadcast.

Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said the 14-year-old shooter acted alone, added that schools in Kahramanmaras province will remain closed for the next two days.

Unluer said the student brought five guns and seven magazines to Ayser Calik Middle School in the afternoon and opened fire intermittently into two classrooms before later killing himself. He added that initial indications suggest the student used guns belonging to his father, a former senior police officer.

The governor also said that 20 students were wounded, four of whom were undergoing surgery for severe injuries.

Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said seven prosecutors had been assigned to the case and that a broadcast ban had been imposed on the media to allow the investigation to proceed without interference.

Turkey’s education, interior, and health ministers were also dispatched to the province.

Sanliurfa school shooting

The attack came a day after another shooting at a high school in the southern province of Sanliurfa, where a former student wounded 20 people. The shooter also killed himself after the attack. 

The 19-year-old, identified as OK, attacked Ahmet Koyuncu Vocational and Technical High School, where he had previously studied, reportedly in revenge for what he saw as his academic failures. He allegedly blamed the school’s principal personally.

Turkish newspaper Sabah reported that OK had failed to complete middle school because of absenteeism and later enrolled in a distance-education high school, which he also failed to complete.

The report added that he had been threatening the school for some time and had even been detained over those threats a day before the attack, only to be released.

“Get ready, there will be an attack at this school in a few days,” he wrote in one of the messages.

School shootings are rare in Turkey. Turkish TV commentators described the two attacks in two days as possible copycat incidents, suggesting that the first attack may have inspired the second after receiving widespread media coverage.