The shooting near Inci Ozmez Vocational School in the Turgutlu district of Manisa province, Turkey, on Tuesday resulted in at least 11 students being injured, two of whom are in critical condition. Akın Gülerk, the Turkish Minister of Justice, announced this news.
Details of the Incident
The suspect in this shooting was one of the students at the school, who has been arrested along with his parents and grandfather. It is reported that he stole the weapon from his grandfather's home, who had a permit to keep it. The shooting occurred at 08:00 AM local time (07:00 AM CET).
Investigations and Consequences
Local authorities stated that the motive for the shooting is under investigation, and some reports suggest that the student may have been suffering from bullying. Gülerk wrote on his social media account on X: "When the safety of our children is at stake, no negligence or irresponsibility can be overlooked." He added that the circumstances under which the child obtained the weapon, how the weapon was stored, parental responsibilities in supervision and care, and allegations of bullying prior to the incident will be thoroughly examined.
Images shared on social media show a man armed with a rifle near the school, while police have advised families to stay away from the area. School shootings are rare in Turkey, but there have been two consecutive shootings this year that have severely impacted the community.
The two shootings that occurred in April led to stricter gun laws and increased security measures in schools. In one of these attacks, several students and teachers were killed, and the other resulted in 16 injuries.
According to Mustafa Jafchi, the Turkish Interior Minister, 31,000 school monitors and police officers have been designated for at-risk schools, a measure that was recently introduced on Monday. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of Turkey, has promised to tighten gun controls even further in response to the latest shooting.
He said: "When we look at similar attacks globally, especially in the United States, we see that one of the goals of the perpetrators is to intimidate the community."
