Nine killed, 13 injured in Turkey’s deadliest school shooting in Kahramanmaras

Kahramanmaras, Turkey — At least nine people, including eight students and one teacher, were killed and 13 others wounded when a teenage student opened fire inside a secondary school in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday, authorities said, in what officials are calling the country’s deadliest school shooting to date.

The attack unfolded at Ayser Çalık Secondary School in the Onikişubat district of Kahramanmaras, a city in Turkey’s south, where the alleged gunman, an eighth‑grade pupil, brought multiple handguns into the building and opened fire in at least two classrooms. Provincial Governor Mukerrem Unluer told reporters that the boy initially killed three students and one teacher, but the official toll later rose to nine dead as more victims succumbed to their injuries.

According to investigators, the 13‑ to 14‑year‑old shooter entered the school during the early hours of the morning and began firing indiscriminately on classmates and staff. Around 20 pupils and teachers were initially reported wounded, with several in critical condition undergoing emergency surgery. The suspect later turned a gun on himself at the scene, ending the attack but leaving behind a harrowing death toll that has shocked families and_triggered national outrage.

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Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi confirmed that the boy had access to five pistols and several magazines, which he is believed to have taken from his father, a retired police officer. The case has prompted an urgent probe into how the teenager obtained the weapons and why they were stored in a way that allowed a minor to carry them into a school. Authorities have also launched a broader review of private firearm ownership and storage regulations across the country.

The Kahramanmaras shooting is the second attack of its kind in Turkey within 48 hours, following a separate school‑gun incident in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa that left 16 people injured. The back‑to‑back episodes have intensified debate over campus security, mental‑health screening of students, and the need for stricter controls on handguns in private homes.

In response, police units have stepped up patrols around schools in Kahramanmaras and surrounding cities, while education officials are reviewing emergency‑response protocols and considering tighter restrictions on student access to school buildings. Parents and teachers have demanded immediate action, calling for stronger psychological support systems and improved surveillance measures to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

The incident has turned the small city of Kahramanmaras into a symbol of a growing crisis over youth violence and gun access, with political leaders pledging a comprehensive overhaul of security and mental‑health policies in schools nationwide.