Turkey: 16 wounded in school shooting, says governor

A teenager on Tuesday opened fire at a school and injured at least 16 people before killing himself in Turkey’s Sanliurfa province, Governor Hasan Sildak has said.

The Associated Press reported that Sildak identified the shooter as an 18‑year‑old former student of the school. He did not provide a name or a motive for the crime.

Sildak said the 18‑year‑old attacker fired randomly at the school with a shotgun before hiding inside the building. He said the shooter later killed himself with the same gun.

Local media reported that most of the injured are students.

The shooting took place in the Siverek district. While most of the injured were being treated locally, five were referred to the provincial capital because of the severity of their injuries.

The injured include 10 students, four teachers, a canteen employee, and a police officer, Sildak said.

“The individual was cornered inside the building through police intervention and died after shooting himself,” Sildak said, adding that a “comprehensive” investigation into the shooting would be carried out.

The authorities have not yet said whether it was an isolated incident or an act of terror that formed part of a broader plot.

Unlike the United States, school shootings are rare in Turkey. Following the incident, Sildak said special security forces were deployed to the school and students were evacuated from the building.

Television footage showed ambulances standing outside the school as students fled in panic following the shooting.

The school shooting comes days after another
incident near the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, which the authorities described as an act of terror.

Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said on April 7 that police had killed at least one terrorist and “neutralised” two others in the shootout. He added that those killed were linked to a religious terrorist organisation.