Student opens fire outside school in Turkey, 11 pupils wounded

• A student opened fire outside Inci Uzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Manisa, Turkey, injuring at least eight people, including pupils.
• Two victims are in critical condition, and the attacker was detained by authorities shortly after the incident.
• The motive remains unknown, but recent deadly school shootings have led Turkey to plan tighter gun controls and security for future academic years.

ANKARA – A student opened fire in front of their high school in Turkey’s western province of Manisa early on Sept 22, wounding at least 11 other pupils, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said.

Two of the wounded were in a critical condition, Gurlek said. The assailant was caught, and their mother, father, and grandfather – who owned the weapon used in the attack – have been detained, the minister added.

“When the security of our children is the issue, it is not possible for any negligence, any irresponsibility to be overlooked,” the minister said on X.

“The circumstances under which the child obtained the gun used in the attack, the conditions of the weapon’s storage, the parents’ obligations regarding care and supervision, and allegations of bullying prior to the incident are being investigated thoroughly and from multiple angles,” Gurlek added.

Images and video posted online showed a male figure walking on a street near the school with a rifle in his hands. He was then seen running back from the same street.

Video outside the school showed police pushing away families and others outside the premises.

The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.

The local governor’s office has said the attack took place at around 8am local time (1pm Singapore time) at the Inci Uzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in the Turgutlu district.

Two deadly school shootings in April caused outrage in Turkey and prompted officials to bring in new security measures for the 2026-2027 academic year, including tighter gun controls.

Before then, the country had not had a history of such attacks.

Vice-President Cevdet Yilmaz said Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci and Education Minister Yusuf Tekin were going to Manisa to carry out inspections. REUTERS