Authorities say the 14-year-old attacker used guns linked to his father in a rare burst of school violence.
ANKARA, Turkey — A 14-year-old student opened fire at a middle school in Kahramanmaras on Wednesday, killing eight students and a teacher and wounding others in Turkey’s second school shooting in two days, officials said.
The attack shook a country where school shootings are uncommon and quickly turned into a wider investigation into gun access, school safety and what officials knew before the shooting. Authorities said the boy arrived with multiple firearms believed to belong to his father, a police officer, while police and prosecutors moved to examine the family, the suspect’s online activity and signs that the attack may have been planned.
Officials said the shooting unfolded at a middle school in the Onikisubat district of Kahramanmaras, a city still closely associated in Turkey with the destruction left by the 2023 earthquakes. The student entered two classrooms and opened fire, according to provincial and national officials. Early casualty figures changed as the day went on, but by late Wednesday authorities said eight students and one teacher had been killed. Several others were hospitalized, and officials said some of the wounded were in serious condition. Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci told reporters there was no immediate indication of terrorism, describing the shooting as an individual act as investigators worked to piece together the timeline.
Provincial Gov. Mukerrem Unluer said the attacker came to school carrying five firearms and seven magazines. Authorities said the weapons were believed to belong to his father, identified in reports as a police officer or retired police officer. State media said the father was detained soon after the attack, and prosecutors later moved against him as the inquiry expanded. The motive was not immediately known. Officials also said it was not clear at first whether the student died by suicide or by police fire, a question that remained part of the investigation as forensic work continued. Families rushed to the school after hearing reports of gunfire, and television footage showed emergency vehicles crowding the area while worried parents gathered outside.
The shooting came just one day after another attack at a school in Siverek, in Sanliurfa province, where a former student armed with a shotgun wounded 16 people before killing himself, according to officials. That earlier attack injured students, teachers, a police officer and a canteen worker. The back-to-back shootings raised alarm because such attacks are rare in Turkey, where school violence on this scale has not been common. The Kahramanmaras school is in southeastern Turkey, a region that has faced repeated strains in recent years, including earthquake recovery, economic hardship and heavy public attention on security. None of that explained the shooting, but it added to the sense of shock as the country confronted two school attacks in less than 48 hours.
By Thursday, prosecutors were examining the suspect’s computer and phone records and had begun tracing how the firearms were stored and used. Police said early findings showed no terrorist link. Separate reporting said investigators found signs of advance preparation, including material on the teenager’s computer dated days before the attack. Authorities also faced questions about whether warning signs had been missed and how a child was able to gain access to multiple handguns. Turkish officials imposed restrictions on the broadcast of traumatic images, directing news outlets to rely on official statements. The next steps were expected to include forensic reports, witness interviews and court proceedings tied to the father’s handling of the weapons.
Outside the school and later at hospitals and morgues, the public face of the story was grief. Parents cried as they waited for word on children inside. Security forces sealed off the campus while ambulances moved in and out. In Ankara, teacher groups later protested school conditions and the latest wave of violence. One union member, Dilek Cakman, said violence should not be explained away as one child’s history alone and called for a deeper look at why students are pushed toward crime. Her remarks reflected a wider debate that was only beginning as the country mourned the dead and officials tried to answer how a school day turned into one of Turkey’s deadliest attacks on students.
As of the latest official updates, the dead included eight students and one teacher, and investigators were still working through the suspect’s planning, his access to guns and the exact circumstances of his death. Further prosecutorial updates were expected after the forensic review and witness statements were completed.
Author note: Last updated April 17, 2026.