A teenager opened fire at a Turkish school on Wednesday, killing nine people and wounding 13, with students jumping from windows to escape the second school shooting in the country in as many days, officials said.
Wednesday’s attack unfolded in the Kahramanmaras province in the south of the country, where such mass shootings are usually rare.
“We regret to report nine deaths (…) and 13 wounded. Six of them are currently in intensive care, three of whom are in critical condition,” Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said in a statement, upping the previous toll of four dead and 20 wounded.
“A student came to school with guns that we believe belonged to his father in his backpack. He entered two classrooms and opened fire randomly, causing injuries and deaths,” Kahramanmaras province governor Mukerrem Unluer told reporters earlier in the day.
The attacker, an eighth-grade student, was the son of a former police officer, Unluer said, adding that the suspect was carrying five guns and seven magazines. He died during the incident.
“We suspect he may have taken his father’s weapons,” the governor said. “He shot himself. It is not yet clear whether this was suicide or happened amid the chaos,” he said.
Police detained the ex-student’s father, Ugur Mersinli, the official Anadolu news agency reported.
Footage released by IHA private news agency showed a person, body and face covered, being evacuated in an ambulance, as well as tearful parents who had rushed to the school in the southern province’s main city, Kahramanmaras.
Another video, taken by a resident of a nearby building, verified by AFP, shows students jumping from a first-floor window of the school to escape the gunfire, while dozens of others flee through the courtyard.
About 15 gunshots can be heard in the one-and-a-half-minute video.
Police increased security around the building, and television footage showed ambulances in the area.
The incident prompted the interior and education ministers to travel to the city.
Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said prosecutors had launched an immediate investigation into the shooting.
On Tuesday, a former student opened fire at a school in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, wounding at least 16 people, including students and teachers, before killing himself.
