An eighth-grade student shot and killed nine people, including fellow pupils, and wounded at least 13 others at a middle school in Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province on Wednesday, April 15, in what is the country’s second school shooting in just two days.
Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci confirmed the death toll, adding that six of the wounded are in intensive care, with three in critical condition. Kahramanmaras Governor Mukerrem Unluer said the attacker used firearms belonging to his father, a former police officer. The student concealed the weapons in a backpack, entered two classrooms, and opened fire “randomly” before being killed.
Footage from the scene showed victims being evacuated by ambulance and distraught parents rushing to the school. Witnesses reported hearing intense gunfire.
Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced that prosecutors have launched an investigation into the attack.
The shooting follows a similar incident on Tuesday in Sanliurfa province, where a former student wounded 16 people at a high school before killing himself in a confrontation with police. The back-to-back attacks have shocked the nation and raised urgent questions about school security and firearms access in Turkey.
