School Shooting in Northern Kurdistan Leaves Four Dead, 20 Wounded

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – A shooting at a school in Kahramanmaras Province, Northern Kurdistan (Turkey), on Wednesday left four people dead and at least 20 others wounded, officials said, marking the second such incident in the country within two days.

The province’s governor, Mukerrem Unluer, confirmed that a teacher and three students were killed in the attack. The suspected gunman, a 13-year-old eighth-grade student, was also found dead.

“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,” Unluer told reporters.

According to the governor, the attacker was carrying five firearms and seven magazines, and is believed to have taken the weapons from his father, a former police officer. Authorities said the suspect died at the scene after shooting himself, though it remains unclear whether it was a suicide or occurred amid the chaos.

Four of the injured victims are reported to be in critical condition and undergoing surgery.

Footage released by a local news agency showed emergency responders evacuating victims by ambulance, while distraught parents gathered outside the school. Witnesses reported hearing sustained gunfire during the attack.

Security forces quickly cordoned off the area, with a heavy police presence and multiple ambulances seen at the scene.

Turkey’s Justice Minister, Akin Gurlek, announced that prosecutors have launched an immediate investigation into the incident.

The attack came just one day after a separate school shooting in Sanliurfa Province, where an ex-student opened fire with a shotgun at his former high school in the Siverek District, wounding 16 people—ten of them students—before killing himself during a confrontation with police.

Authorities have not yet indicated whether the two incidents are connected.