A former student opened fire at a high school in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, wounding at least 16 people before killing himself, authorities have announced.
The 19-year-old attacker, armed with a shotgun, fired randomly at the Ahmet Koyuncu Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in the Siverek district, before hiding inside the building.
He later killed himself with the same shotgun, Governor Hasan Sıldak told reporters.
Ten students, four teachers, a police officer and a canteen operator were wounded in the attack, the Interior Ministry announced.
Two teachers and two students were transferred to the provincial center due to the severity of their injuries, according to the media reports.
Şıldak said the attacker was a former student, born in 2007, who had switched to open education after the ninth grade.
The motive remains unclear.
Meanwhile, the attacker had posted threatening comments on the school’s Instagram page, saying he would carry out an attack within one to two days and that he would “wipe everyone out.”
Eyewitness Gökhan Başaranoğlu said, “He was around 17–18 years old. As soon as he entered through the outer gate, he began firing with a long-barreled weapon. First, he shot randomly to the sides, then toward the school. He then ran inside the building. Once inside, he fired at anyone directly in front of him. Students started screaming, and everyone ran for cover.”
Police special operations units were deployed after the assailant refused to surrender, while all staff and students were evacuated. The school’s website states that around 1,000 students are enrolled.
Video footage showed dozens of students running out of the school toward the gate and onto the street.
In March, the killing of a high school teacher by her student in Istanbul sent shockwaves across Türkiye, reigniting long-standing concerns over violence in schools and prompting widespread protests by education unions.
Biology teacher Fatma Nur Çelik, 44, was critically wounded and later died despite emergency medical treatment.
In protest, multiple education unions announced a one-day work stoppage across Istanbul’s schools.
