Turkiye Experiences Second School Shooting in Two Days Resulting in Fatalities

Three students and a teacher have been killed in an attack at a middle school in Kahramanmaras province, according to local authorities. The incident occurred on Wednesday, and the perpetrator, identified as an eighth-grade student, has shot at least four people dead, including fellow pupils.

According to Governor Mukerrem Unluer, three students and one teacher were killed in the attack. The governor stated that the student who carried out the shooting concealed their father’s firearms in a backpack before entering two classrooms and opening fire “randomly”.

This incident marks the second school attack in Turkiye within two days. On Tuesday, an ex-student shot 16 people at a high school in Sanliurfa province, killing himself after wounding others. The student who carried out Wednesday’s shooting is believed to have used their father’s guns.

Witnesses reported hearing intense gunfire during the incident. Police have increased security around the school building and ambulances were present in the area. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced that prosecutors had launched an immediate investigation into the shooting.

School shootings are rare in Turkiye, but a similar incident occurred in May 2024 when a former student killed a private high school principal in Istanbul with a firearm five months after being expelled from school.

Source: Al Jazeera