A former student opened fire at a high school in southeastern Turkey on Tuesday, wounding at least 16 people before committing suicide, an official said, according to UNN, citing AP.
Details
The 18-year-old assailant randomly fired shots at a vocational school in Siverek, Şanlıurfa province. He later committed suicide with the same rifle after being "cornered by police," Governor Hasan Şıldak said.
The attack wounded 10 students, four teachers, a cafeteria worker, and a police officer, Şıldak said. While most of them were treated in Siverek, five teachers and students were transferred to a hospital in the provincial capital due to their more serious condition, the governor said.
The motive for the attack is unclear. School shootings are rare in Turkey.
The assailant had no criminal record, Şıldak said. The school had been declared safe and no permanent police presence was assigned to guard it, with the shooting described as an "isolated incident."
NTV television and other media reported that the assailant had threatened an attack on the school on social media before the shooting.
One student told the state agency Anadolu that he and his friend jumped out of a classroom window to escape the attacker.
"He suddenly entered the classroom and fired. He fired four or five times. Two people were wounded. Then he went into the next classroom," Anadolu quoted Ömer Furkan Sayar as saying. "First we ducked to the ground, and then two of us jumped out of the window."
Sayar continued: "He didn't say anything, he just came in and started shooting directly."
Earlier, media reported that all students had been evacuated, and special police units were deployed after the attacker refused to surrender.
"The man was cornered in the building due to police intervention and died by shooting himself," Şıldak told reporters, adding that a "comprehensive" investigation into the shooting would be conducted.
Video footage showed dozens of students running out of the school towards the gate and onto the street.