A Nation Weeps: Turkey Faces Its First Deadly School Shooting

Fri Apr 17 2026 15:50:52 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

The recent tragedy in Kahramanmaras marks a grim milestone for Turkey as families mourn the loss of children and a teacher in a shocking act of violence.

In a tragic event that has left a nation in mourning, Turkey experienced its first deadly school shooting in Kahramanmaras, resulting in the deaths of eight children and a teacher. The shooter, a 14-year-old student, was killed at the scene, provoking widespread grief and calls for increased security in schools. As details about the shooter emerge, many fear this incident may inspire further acts of violence among youth. The government is now detaining individuals for sharing information about the event on social media.

Outside a morgue in south-eastern Turkey, about a dozen men rushed to carry a coffin, but it was light - just the weight of a 10-year boy.

His father followed behind, propped up by relatives on both sides but weighed down by grief. Oh, my martyred child, he wailed, oh my darling.

His son was one of eight children shot dead on Wednesday in the city of Kahramanmaras by a fellow student, 14, who also killed a teacher. This city, traditionally famous for its ice cream, now has a new and terrible distinction – it is the location of Turkey's first deadly mass school shooting.

Relatives, neighbours, and emergency services gathered as coffins emerged one by one, each draped in the Turkish flag. One woman shouted angrily at a line of waiting police: Too late, too late. You didn't save the children. Another woman yelled for the attacker to be hung in the main square, though he was already dead.

Outside the main mosque, a mother wept, leaning forward to stroke the coffin of her daughter, Zeynep. From her family home beside the Ayser Calik Secondary School, she heard the shots that killed her 10-year-old – shots that have reverberated around Turkey.

Relatives told us Zeynep was clever and respectful. She became an angel, and she flew away, said Mahmut, her uncle, his voice breaking. My only wish is to have more security at the schools, so this does not happen again. This pain landed on us. I do not want it to fall on anyone else.

The attack came just one day after a former student roamed the corridors of another school in the region, shooting at will. He wounded 16 but killed only himself.

There have been two attacks in a very short period, both in cities with lower incomes, says Prof Asli Carkoglu, an expert in teen psychology. These things do have a way of spreading. She is worried that the deadly shooting here could become an example for young minds that are frustrated enough.

The attack was a tragedy but not a surprise to people like her who work with young adults and adolescents, she said. There have been stabbings, beatings, and attempted suicides in the school system. The guns weren't there before, but the violence was.

As the victims of the attack were being lowered into their graves, more details emerged about the killer. The authorities say he referred on social media to an American gunman, Elliot Rodgers, who killed six students in California in 2014. An entry on his computer indicated there would be a major attack in the near future. He did not have to go far to get weapons – just to the bedroom of his father, a former police officer who is now under arrest.

While mass school shootings are a familiar horror for the US, this is a new trauma for Turkey. The authorities want to calm the public and control the narrative, detaining around 150 people for social media posts about the killings, accused of spreading misinformation or glorifying crime and criminals. More than 1,000 social media accounts and Telegram groups have been blocked.

There is no evidence of any link between the two attacks this week. The police say initial findings indicate that the killer in Kahramanmaras acted alone and was not linked to any terrorist organization.

At the school gates, now locked and guarded by police, teachers laid flowers in memory of the children who were killed where they should have been safe.