Nine people, eight of them children, killed in Turkish school shooting
13 people were injured, six of whom are in critical condition.
Nine people – eight children and a teacher – were killed in a shooting at the Ayser Çelik High School in the city of Kahramanmaraş in southeastern Turkey, Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi announced, writes the BBC.
According to his data, 13 people were injured, six of whom are in critical condition.
The shooter – a 13-year-old eighth-grade student from the same school – also died, but it is not yet clear how exactly this happened. According to some reports, he was killed by security forces, while other sources claim he committed suicide. His motives are currently unknown, and an investigation has been launched.
According to authorities, the shooter had five weapons and seven magazines, which most likely belonged to his father – a former police officer. According to some reports, the father was detained shortly after the incident.
"The student came to school with weapons in his backpack, which we believe belonged to his father. He entered two classrooms and opened indiscriminate fire, resulting in injuries and deaths," Kahramanmaraş provincial governor Mükerrem Ünlüer stated earlier.
"The sounds of gunshots were very intense," reported a correspondent for the Turkish TV channel NTV, "panic erupted in front of the school." Footage from the scene shows parents arriving in a panic at the school building, and ambulances leaving.
In one video, filmed by a resident of a nearby building and obtained by AFP, students are seen jumping from a first-floor window of the school. Approximately 15 gunshots can be heard in the one-and-a-half-minute recording.
This is the second incident of violence in Turkish schools in the south of the country in the last two days.
The day before, 16 people were injured at a vocational technical lyceum in the city of Siverek after a former student opened fire and then committed suicide. According to Şanlıurfa provincial governor Hasan Şıldak, the assailant entered the lyceum building with a hunting rifle and opened indiscriminate fire. Observers note that violence in educational institutions in Turkey has been a great rarity until now.
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