Mother of school shooter arrested on negligence charges

KAHRAMANMARAŞ

The mother of a teenage gunman behind a deadly school attack in southern Türkiye has been arrested as part of an expanding investigation into the incident that killed 10 people, including the assailant.

Prosecutors in Kahramanmaraş said the suspect’s mother, Pınar Peyman Mersinli, was detained on charges of “causing death by negligence,” arguing that she failed to fulfill her duty of care despite clear warnings about her son’s psychological condition.

According to the chief prosecutor’s office, the school’s guidance service had repeatedly recommended that the 14-year-old receive treatment at a child psychiatry clinic. Authorities said the mother did not follow through with those recommendations.

Under Turkish law, the charge of causing death by negligence refers to unintentionally causing a person’s death through failure to exercise due care and attention.

The attack took place on April 15 at Ayser Çalık Middle School, shocking the country and prompting a wide-ranging investigation into the family’s role and possible institutional lapses.

The gunman’s father, Uğur Mersinli, a police chief inspector, was arrested a day after the attack. He told investigators that his son’s psychological condition had been unstable and that the boy had refused to go to school on the day of the shooting. He also said firearms in the home had been kept locked in a chest.

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said on April 21 that the school counselor had urged the family at least 13 times to seek psychological help for the child, but the recommendations were repeatedly postponed.

The Kahramanmaraş shooting came just one day after a separate school attack in nearby Şanlıurfa on April 14, in which a 19-year-old former student injured 16 people before taking his own life.

In the aftermath of the back-to-back incidents, Türkiye’s parliament established a special commission to investigate school violence. The 22-member panel will conduct a three-month inquiry, hearing from experts and stakeholders while examining issues including risks children face in digital environments.

The commission is expected to produce a report outlining preventive measures.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the government is preparing a set of new regulations to address the problem from multiple angles, including stricter penalties for firearm owners who fail to properly secure their weapons.

“We will increase penalties for firearm owners who do not fulfill their duty of care, especially in cases where a child gains access to a weapon,” he said, adding that additional legal restrictions on gun ownership are also planned.