A teenager has been arrested after allegedly opening fire outside a high school in western Turkey, injuring 11 students, two of them seriously.
The incident occurred around 8 am on Tuesday in Turgutlu, Manisa Province, near the western city of Izmir, according to the regional governor’s office.
Justice Minister Akin Gurlek confirmed the arrest, saying the suspect was taken into custody shortly after the shooting.
“Eleven students were injured, two of them seriously,” Gurlek said in a post on X.
He added that the suspect’s parents and grandfather had also been detained as authorities investigated the circumstances surrounding the attack.
Police and emergency responders were deployed to the school as anxious parents gathered at the scene. The Education Ministry said classes at the school were suspended for the day.
Authorities said they were investigating how the weapon came into the teenager’s possession, how it had been stored and supervised, as well as allegations of bullying before the incident.
Security camera footage broadcast by Turkish media showed a young man dressed in black jeans, a jacket and green top carrying what appeared to be a long-barrelled firearm. Other footage showed police restraining and arresting a man outside the school.
Witnesses told local media that the suspect appeared angry and was shouting as he moved away from the scene.
The shooting has renewed concerns about school security in Turkey, five months after two separate attacks involving teenagers shocked the country.
In April, a 14-year-old opened fire at a school in Kahramanmaras, killing a teacher and nine pupils before dying at the scene.
A day earlier, another teenager attacked his former high school in Sanliurfa, injuring 16 people before taking his own life after being confronted by police.
Following those attacks, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged tighter gun controls and said school safety would remain a government priority.
The latest incident occurred a day after the Education and Interior ministries announced additional security measures for the new academic year.
Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said 31,000 school grounds supervisors had been deployed, while police officers were assigned permanently to schools considered to be at the highest risk.
Lower-risk schools were assigned police liaison officers to work with school administrators.
Discussion0