Istanbul, April 15: At least four people were killed and 20 others injured on Wednesday after a student opened fire at the Ayser Calık Secondary School in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Governor Mukerrem Unluer confirmed that the fatalities include three students and one teacher, marking the second major school shooting to hit the country in 48 hours.
Local authorities stated that the attacker was an eighth-grade student at the school who reportedly utilized firearms belonging to his father. The weapons were allegedly concealed in a backpack to bypass initial notice. The governor affirmed that the shooter also died during the incident, though the specific circumstances of the student’s death were not immediately detailed.
“Security forces have secured and cordoned off the area,” Unluer maintained in an official statement, adding that emergency medical teams and ambulances were dispatched to the scene immediately following the first reports of gunfire.
The tragedy follows a similar attack on Tuesday in the Siverek district of Sanliurfa, where a 17-year-old former student opened fire at a vocational high school with a shotgun. That incident resulted in 16 injuries, including 10 students, four teachers, a police officer, and a canteen operator. Governor Hasan Sildak stated that the attacker in the Sanliurfa case died by suicide shortly after the shooting.
Local broadcasters noted that Wednesday’s incident has caused significant alarm across the region, as investigators work to determine the full identity of the shooter and the motive behind the attack. Security officials asserted that the campus remains under lockdown while the preliminary investigation continues.
