Student kills four in Turkey’s second school shooting in two days
Ambulances pulled away from a school in Turkey’s southeastern Kahramanmaras province on Wednesday after a shooting that left four people dead and at least 20 others wounded, deepening concern in a country that has now suffered two school...
Wednesday April 15, 2026
Ambulances pulled away from a school in Turkey’s southeastern Kahramanmaras province on Wednesday after a shooting that left four people dead and at least 20 others wounded, deepening concern in a country that has now suffered two school attacks in as many days. IHA (Ihlas News Agency) via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights
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A teenage student opened fire at a middle school in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday, killing at least four people, including three fellow pupils, and injuring at least 20 others, the local governor said.
Governor Mukerrem Unluer said three students and one teacher died in the attack in Kahramanmaras. He added that the shooter later killed himself amid the chaos.
“An eighth-grade student came with 5 weapons and 7 magazines – which we believe to be his former police officer father’s – in his bag, entered two classrooms where fifth grade students were, causing deaths and injuries indiscriminately,” Unluer said.
In Turkey, eighth-grade students are generally 13 or 14 years old, while pupils in fifth grade are typically 10 or 11.
Unluer said four of the wounded were in critical condition and were undergoing surgery. School shootings remain exceptionally uncommon in Turkey.
Unverified video circulating online showed students leaping from a second-floor window as gunfire rang out across the school grounds. Separate unverified CCTV footage appeared to show the attacker shooting two students as they walked along a hallway.
Television images from the school on Wednesday showed ambulances arriving while police and large crowds gathered near the gate. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said on X that authorities had opened an investigation into the shooting.
The attack came just one day after a former student opened fire at a school in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, wounding at least 16 people, including students and teachers, before taking his own life.
Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Alexandra Hudson