A former student opened fire at a high school in southeastern Turkey on Tuesday, wounding at least 16 people, before killing himself, an official said.
The 18-year-old attacker, armed with a shotgun, fired randomly inside a vocational high school in Siverek, Sanliurfa province. He later killed himself with the same shotgun after being “cornered by police,” Gov. Hasan Sildak said.
CCTV camera video obtained by IHA showed a person holding a long gun entering the high school building and opening fire.
The attack left 10 students, four teachers, a canteen employee and a police officer hurt, Sildak said.
While most of them were being treated in Siverek, five of the teachers and students were transferred to a hospital in the provincial capital because their conditions were more serious, the governor said.
One eyewtiness told IHA he saw the attacker enter and he “immediately started firing left and right.”
“He started shooting directly at whoever came in front of him from inside,” the witness added.
The motive for the attack remains unclear. School shootings are rare in Turkey.
The attacker did not have a criminal record, Sildak said.
The school had been declared safe and no permanent police officer was assigned to protect it, he added, calling the shooting an “isolated incident.”
NTV television and other media reports said the assailant had threatened an attack on the school on social media prior to the shooting.
Earlier, media reports said all students were evacuated and police special operations units were deployed after the assailant refused to surrender
