A devastating school shooting at Ayser Çalık Middle School left four people dead and 20 others injured Wednesday, marking the second instance of campus gun violence in Turkey within 48 hours.
The casualties include three students and one teacher. Kahramanmaraş Governor Mükerrem Ünlüer confirmed that four of the 20 injured remain in critical condition and are currently undergoing emergency surgery.
The incident began Wednesday morning when a suspect, identified as an eighth-grade student at the school, opened fire in the schoolyard before moving into the building. Authorities report the gunman entered two separate classrooms and fired indiscriminately at occupants.
The shooter was also killed during the incident. Investigative leads suggest the suspect was the son of a former police officer. He allegedly accessed his father’s arsenal to carry out the attack, entering the campus with a backpack containing five firearms and seven magazines.
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Top Turkish officials, including Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi, National Education Minister Yusuf Tekin, and Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu, announced immediate plans to visit the region.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek has mobilized a high-level task force to oversee the probe.
- Four civil administration chief inspectors and four police chief inspectors have been dispatched.
- Forensic experts are currently processing the scene at Ayser Çalık Middle School.
- Chief Public Prosecutor Ramazan Murat Tiryaki stated that the investigation is examining the tragedy “from all angles.”
The Kahramanmaraş shooting follows a similar tragedy on Tuesday in Şanlıurfa. In that incident, a shooter identified as Ömer Ket wounded 16 people at Ahmet Koyuncu Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School before taking his own life.
This rapid succession of school shootings has ignited a national conversation regarding firearm accessibility and campus security across Turkey. Local authorities have not yet released a motive for Wednesday’s massacre.
