Nine killed, 13 wounded after school shooting in southeastern Turkiye, minister says
Nine people, including eight children, were killed in a shooting at a middle school in southeastern Turkiye on Wednesday, Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said, adding 13 others were wounded, with six in critical condition.
Speaking to reporters in a televised press conference in Kahramanmaras province, where the incident took place, Ciftci said the attack was a “personal” incident.
Local Governor Mukerrem Unluer told reporters earlier that the incident was the country’s second school attack in two days, adding that the shooter had shot and killed himself in the commotion.
“An eighth-grade student came with five weapons and seven magazines, which we believe to be his former police officer father’s — in his bag, entered two classrooms where fifth-grade students were, causing deaths and injuries indiscriminately,” Unluer said.
Eighth-grade students in Turkiye are usually aged 13 or 14, and those in the fifth grade are aged 10 and 11.
The governor added that four of the wounded were in critical condition and undergoing surgery.
School shootings are very rare in Turkiye.
Unverified footage showed several students jumping from a second-storey window at the school as gunshots echoed around the grounds. Unverified CCTV footage from the school showed the attacker shooting two students walking down a hallway.
Television footage from the school grounds on Wednesday showed ambulances arriving at the school where police and crowds had gathered by the gate. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on X that an investigation had been launched into the attack.
On Tuesday, a former student opened fire at a school in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, wounding at least 16 people, including students and teachers, before killing himself.
