A student opened fire in front of their high school in the western Turkish province of Manisa on Tuesday, wounding at least eight people including other pupils. 

Two of the wounded were in a critical condition, local media reported. 

Footage posted online showed a young figure walking on a street near the school with a rifle in his hands.

He appeared to be initially walking away from the school, looking over his shoulder every few seconds, before turning around and running towards the building. 

Ambulances were later seen at the school. The assailant has since been caught, the governor’s office said.

‘A report was received regarding gunfire in the vicinity of the Inci Uzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in our Turgutlu district at 07:59 [4.59am UK time],’ the office wrote on X.

It added: ‘Upon the report, a large number of police and medical teams were dispatched to the scene. 

‘According to initial findings related to the incident, it has been learned that eight people were affected. The injured have been transported to the nearest medical facility. Following the incident, the suspect individual believed to have fired the weapon has been apprehended and taken into custody by our security forces. 

Footage posted online showed a young figure walking on a street near the school with a rifle in his hands

He appeared to be initially walking away from the school, looking over his shoulder every few seconds, before turning around and running towards the building

‘A judicial and administrative investigation into the incident has been initiated, and developments will be shared with the public separately.’

The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.

Two deadly school shootings in April caused outrage in Turkey and prompted officials to implement 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.

The back-to-back shootings saw a total of 14 people killed, including the perpetrators of both attacks. 

A total of 29 people were injured in both attacks. 

The first of the April shootings was at the Ahmet Koyuncu Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Siverek, Şanlıurfa Province, where 16 people were hurt before the shooter, 19-year-old Ömer Ket, took his own life.  

Governor Hasan Sildak said the shooter was a former student of the school and entered the school grounds before he began firing randomly.

The assailant had attended the school for one year in the ninth grade, the governor added.

He also confirmed that the attacker had no prior criminal record and that the school had previously been classified as safe by police.

Just over 24 hours later, 13-year-old İsa Aras Mersinli killed 12 people and injured 13 more at the Ayser Çalık Secondary School in the Onikişubat district of Kahramanmaraş Province. 

Ambulances were later seen at the school

At least eight people have so far been injured by the attack 

The teenager died after taking a fatal knife injury while trying to flee the scene.

Witnesses told local media that parents also rushed to the school, where they were seen embracing their children before running in panic. Some also said that intense gunfire was heard during the incident. 

Following the initial reports of the shooting, emergency medical teams and ambulances were immediately dispatched to the scene. 

The shooting at the Onikişubat school is the deadliest of its kind in Turkey’s history. 

That same day, shots were fired in front of a school in Gaziantep, though no one was killed or injured in that incident. 



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