ISTANBUL
Nine people were killed and 20 others were wounded when a middle school student opened fire at a school in the Turkiye’s southeastern province of Kahramanmaras on Wednesday, Governor Mukerrem Unluer told reporters. Unluer said a teacher and three students were among those killed, and added the shooter was a student who used his father’s weapons, concealed in a backpack, to carry out the attack. The shooter also died, he added.
Footage released by IHA private news agency showed a person, body and face covered, being evacuated in an ambulance, as well as tearful parents who had rushed to the school in the southern province´s main city, Kahramanmaras. Witnesses quoted by media said intense gunfire was heard.
Police have increased security around the building, and television footage showed ambulances present in the area. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said prosecutors had launched an immediate investigation into the shooting. On Tuesday, an ex-student opened fire at his former high school, wounding 16 people including students before killing himself in a showdown with police, officials said.
School shootings in Turkiye are rare. In May 2024, a former student killed a private high school principal in Istanbul with a firearm five months after he was expelled.
