Turkey to Hold Funerals for School Shooting Victims

A nation shaken by a rare burst of school violence is preparing to bury nine victims after a 14-year-old opened fire in Kahramanmaras, in an attack authorities say bore a disturbing reference to a notorious US mass killer on the suspect’s WhatsApp profile.

The shooting in the southern province of Kahramanmaras marked Turkey’s second school gun attack this week, an alarming sequence in a country where such incidents have been uncommon.

Officials said the 14-year-old entered two classrooms while armed with five guns and fired at random.

Local authorities said funerals will be held in the city of Kahramanmaras for eight children aged 10 and 11, as well as a 55-year-old teacher.

“Initial findings from the investigation revealed that the perpetrator used an image on his WhatsApp profile referencing Elliot Rodger, who carried out an attack in the United States in 2014,” police said in a statement.

Rodger, a 22-year-old American, killed six people at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before taking his own life.

In a video released before the killings, Rodger said the attack was “punishment” for women who had rejected him.

Officials said the 14-year-old responsible for yesterday’s shooting also died at the scene, although the circumstances of his death were not immediately clear.

The teenager’s father, identified as a former police inspector, was arrested and taken into custody.

“Digital media seized during searches of the perpetrator’s home and his father’s vehicle have been confiscated and are currently being analysed,” police said.

“Based on initial findings, no link to terrorism has been established. This appears to be an isolated act.”

Schools in Kahramanmaras will remain closed today and tomorrow.

Members of education unions hold a banner which reads “We will not surrender our schools to violence”

Police order arrests

Police said they had ordered dozens of arrests over social media posts made after the two deadly school shootings, accusing those targeted of sharing controversial content.

“Arrest orders were issued for 83 individuals found to have engaged in posts and activities praising crime and criminals and negatively affecting public order, and legal action has been taken against them,” police said in a statement.

Authorities also blocked access to 940 social media accounts and shut down 93 Telegram groups, the statement said.

On Tuesday, a student opened fire at his former high school in the Siverek district in the southeast, wounding 16 people, including students, before killing himself.

The back-to-back attacks this week set off protests.

Dozens of members from the country’s main teachers’ unions gathered outside the education ministry in Ankara yesterday evening and called for a two-day nationwide strike.

They carried a banner reading “We will not surrender our schools to violence”.

More than 3,500 teachers from several education unions are protesting in Ankara today, demanding the resignation of the education minister.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed sorrow over Wednesday’s “tragic attack” and said the incident would be brought to light “in all its aspects”.