Eighth grade student kills 4, wounds 20 in second Turkey school shooting in 2 days
MGN
A student who was about 13 years old opened fire at random in a Turkish school Wednesday, killing four people and wounding 20 a day after a shooter injured 16 people and then killed himself in another school, officials said.
A teacher and three students were killed in the latest attack, said Kahramanmaras province governor Mukerrem Unluer. The attacker was also dead, according to Unluer.
“A student came to school with guns that we believe belonged to his father in his backpack. He entered two classrooms and opened fire randomly, causing injuries and deaths,” Unluer told reporters.
Four of the wounded were in serious condition and undergoing surgery, he said.
The attacker, an eighth grade student, shot himself, Unluer said, adding, “It is not yet clear whether this was suicide or happened amid the chaos.”
The attacker was the son of a former police officer and was carrying five guns and seven magazines, according to Unluer.
“We suspect he may have taken his father’s weapons,” the governor said.
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.
People stand at the courtyard of a secondary school where an assailant opened fire, in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, April 15, 2026.IHA via AP
Police increased security around the building, and television footage showed ambulances in the area. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said prosecutors had launched an immediate investigation.
The shooting came after another attacker on Tuesday opened fire with a shotgun at his former high school in Siverek district of Sanliurfa province, wounding 16 people before killing himself in a showdown with police. Ten students were among the wounded in that incident, in which the 18-year-old attacker fired randomly inside the vocational high school.
He killed himself with the shotgun after he was “cornered by police,” Gov. Hasan Sildak said, The Associated Press reported.
The motive for that attack was unclear, and Sildak said the attacker had no criminal record.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking to the ruling AKP party in parliament, promised that those found to have been negligent or at fault “will certainly be held accountable” over the school shootings. Police detained one suspect after Tuesday’s attack and suspended four officials from duty, Erdogan said. The school was ordered closed for four days.
School shootings in Turkey had been rare until this week. Turkey has strict gun laws that require licensing, registration, mental and criminal background checks, and severe penalties for illegal possession.
