Kahramanmaraş school shooting kills 9

KAHRAMANMARAŞ

A student opened fire at his school in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş on April 15, killing nine people and injuring 20 before taking his own life, as the shooting marked the second such incident in two days in the country.

The attack took place around 1:30 p.m. at Ayser Çalık Secondary School in the Onikişubat district.

The suspect, a 14-year-old eighth-grade student, entered the school with a backpack containing five firearms and seven magazines, Kahramanmaraş Governor Mükerrem Ünlüer said.

Authorities believed that the weapons belonged to the attacker’s father, a former police officer, the governor said.

He first opened fire in the schoolyard before entering the building and shooting randomly inside two classrooms, both occupied by fifth-grade students.

Eight of the victims were students, while one was a teacher, media reports said, adding that four of the 13 injured are in critical condition.

Footage from the aftermath showed panicked students attempting to escape, some jumping from classroom windows. Emergency teams were dispatched and a large crowd, most of them parents, gathered outside the school.

Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi, Education Minister Yusuf Tekin and Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu traveled to the city to assess the situation.

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that an investigation has been launched by the Kahramanmaraş Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, with multiple prosecutors assigned. A broadcast ban has also been imposed.

The incident follows a similar attack a day earlier in the nearby province of Şanlıurfa, where a former student opened fire at a high school, wounding 16 people before taking his own life even though school shooting is rare in Türkiye.

Following the attack in Şanlıurfa, classes at the school were suspended for four days, while education unions staged a strike and organized marches in several provinces, calling for safer schools.

Consecutive school shootings have sent shockwaves across the country, shifting attention to potential safety measures by the Education Ministry.

Education Minister Tekin earlier said after the Şanlıurfa attack that such incidents can occur even in schools with security measures in place, while risks may also persist where precautions are lacking, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

Meanwhile, the attacker in Şanlıurfa was buried quietly overnight and his family has been placed under protection for security reasons.