ANKARA — A school shooting in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday left nine people dead and 13 wounded, officials said, just one day after an incident in which a shooter wounded 16 people and then killed himself.
Eight students and one teacher died in the attack in the province of Kahramanmaras, Turkey’s Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci told reporters, adding that six of the wounded were in critical condition.
“This was solely a personal attack carried out by one of our students, it is not a terror incident,” Ciftci said.
Earlier, Kahramanmaras Governor Mukerrem Unluer had said the shooter had shot and killed himself in the commotion at the Ayser Çalık Secondary School.
“A student came to school with guns that we believe belonged to his father in his backpack. He entered two classrooms and opened fire randomly, causing injuries and deaths,” Unluer told reporters.
Witnesses quoted by the media said the gunshots heard at the school were intense.
Parents who heard about the incident rushed to the school. Police have increased security measures around the building, and television footage showed ambulances present in the area.
Asked by reporters if authorities would take any measures after the shootings this week, Ciftci said: “We will take necessary precautions”, without elaborating.
Gun laws are generally strict in Turkey, with only individuals aged over 21 and in possession of a license allowed to own weapons. However, guns are widespread in Turkey, with many security officers allowed to carry and own arms.
Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said the local prosecutor’s office launched an immediate investigation into the shooting.
It comes a day after an ex-student opened fire at his former high school in Siverek in southern Şanlıurfa province, wounding 16 before killing himself in a showdown with police, officials said.
The attack left 10 students, four teachers, a canteen employee and a police officer wounded, Governor Hasan Şıldak said.
“The individual was cornered inside the building through police intervention and died after shooting himself,” Şıldak told reporters, adding that a “comprehensive” investigation into the shooting would be carried out.
School shootings in Turkey are rare. — Agencies
Source: Saudi Gazette