The incident, carried out by a student from the same educational institution, took place around 8:00 local time (05:00 GMT) near a technical training institute in the municipality of Turgutlu. The attacker used a hunting rifle to shoot at other students, injuring them with pellets.
Turkish Minister of Justice, Akin Gürlek, confirmed the event through his X account, indicating that the armed attack occurred outside the school building and was aimed at students heading to the institute. After the attack, the alleged perpetrator fled the scene but was shortly after apprehended by the Police. The assailant has been identified as a ninth-grade student at the institute. Most of the injured are 16 years old, although among the victims, there is also a 14-year-old, a 15-year-old, and two 17-year-olds. Two of the 16-year-old students are in critical condition, while the rest suffered less severe injuries due to the pellets.
In a significant development, and in line with recent legal reform, the police have also arrested the alleged attacker's parents, as well as his grandfather. The reason for these additional arrests is that the weapon used belonged to the grandfather, and an investigation is ongoing into possible negligence in responsibilities both on the part of the parents regarding the young man and the grandfather in handling the weapon.
In addition to the arrests, authorities will also investigate whether the student assailant was a victim of bullying at school. This unfortunate incident brings back memories of a previous event in April when a 14-year-old student killed nine classmates and a teacher at a school in Kahramanmaras, using several pistols belonging to his father. That event shocked the country, which rarely experiences such incidents. In response to the growing concern about school violence, the Turkish government pledged, at the start of the school year last week, to hire around 30,000 security guards for educational institutions in the country to prevent similar episodes.