Teen gunman kills nine in Turkey school attack, second shooting in two days

Ankara— A 14-year-old student shot dead nine people, including eight fellow pupils and a teacher, and wounded 13 others at a middle school in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday, officials said, marking the country’s second school shooting in two days.

The attack took place in the province of Kahramanmaras, where Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said six of the injured were in critical condition. Authorities ruled out terrorism, describing the incident as a personal act carried out by a student.

“This was solely a personal attack carried out by one of our students, it is not a terror incident,” Ciftci told reporters.

Governor Mukerrem Unluer said the attacker, an eighth-grade pupil, entered two classrooms of younger students armed with five firearms and seven magazines, which authorities believe belonged to his former police officer father.

The suspect later killed himself during the incident, the governor added.The shooting targeted fifth-grade students, typically aged 10 to 11, and caused casualties “indiscriminately,” Unluer said.

The attack follows another school shooting a day earlier in Sanliurfa that left 16 people injured, raising concerns over school safety in a country where such incidents are rare.Officials said the suspect’s father had been detained as part of the investigation.

Turkey has relatively strict gun laws, requiring licenses and setting a minimum age of 21 for legal ownership, though firearms remain accessible, particularly among security personnel permitted to carry weapons.

Authorities said they would consider additional safety measures following the incidents but did not provide further details.