At least 9 dead in Turkey after second school shooting in two days

At least nine people were killed and 13 others were wounded on Wednesday after a 14-year-old student opened fire inside a middle school in southern Turkey, officials said. The attack took place in the Onikisubat district of Kahramanmaras Province and is under investigation by prosecutors.

Turkey’s Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said one teacher and eight students were killed in the shooting. He added that 13 others were injured, several of them in serious condition.

According to Kahramanmaras Governor Mukerrem Unluer, the attacker used firearms that are believed to have belonged to his father, a former police officer. Officials said the suspect entered the school carrying five guns and seven magazines and opened fire in two classrooms.

The shooter, who was in eighth grade, later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though authorities said it was not yet clear whether this was intentional or accidental. Minister Ciftci said the government does not consider the incident a terrorist attack, describing it as an “individual incident.”

Officials said six of the wounded remain in intensive care, with three in critical condition. The father of the suspect has been taken into custody, according to Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT, as prosecutors continue their investigation.

The attack comes a day after a separate school shooting in southeastern Turkey, where a former student wounded 16 people before taking his own life when cornered by police. Authorities have said there is no indication the two incidents are connected.

Education unions in Turkey have warned that violence in schools is increasing, calling for stronger preventive measures and improved student support systems. A separate stabbing attack at a vocational school in Istanbul last month, which resulted in the death of a teacher, has further intensified concerns over school safety nationwide.