The death toll from the school shooting in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş has risen to 10 after 11-year-old Almina Ağaoğlu, who had been critically injured in the attack, died in hospital following an 18-day fight for survival.
Almina had been receiving intensive treatment after being shot twice in the back of the head during the April 15 attack at Ayser Çalık Middle School in the central district of Onikişubat. Hospital officials said she died at 5:45 a.m. on May 3. Her funeral is set to take place after noon prayers at Abdülhamid Han Mosque.
The shooting, carried out by an eighth-grade student at the school, had initially left one teacher and eight students dead, while 17 others were wounded. The attacker also died during the incident.
Authorities later determined that the suspect used firearms belonging to his father and had smuggled them into the school concealed inside an art portfolio, a detail disclosed by Education Minister Yusuf Tekin.
Commenting on the case, Tekin said security personnel should be able to better identify suspicious items brought on school grounds.
The Kahramanmaraş shooting came just one day after another school attack in Şanlıurfa’s Siverek district, where a student opened fire at Ahmet Koyuncu Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, injuring 16 people before taking his own life.
The back-to-back incidents have intensified public debate over school safety and gun access in Türkiye, with education authorities facing growing calls for tighter preventive measures.
Security measures have been expanded to include tighter screening at school entrances, increased monitoring of school perimeters and stronger coordination with nearby police units for rapid intervention.
Authorities will also conduct renewed risk assessments, establish on-site security boards and introduce early warning mechanisms to identify and respond to threats before they escalate.
