An unspeakable shocks the southeast as a 14-year-old student, Isa Aras Mersini, in Kahramanmaras province, killing at least nine people — eight of his classmates and a teacher.
According to the Minister of the Interior, Mustafa Tsiftsi, 13 more people were injured in the attack, six of whom are hospitalized in a critical condition.
🚨 BREAKING: Graphic footage emerges from today’s school attack in Turkey. Video shows chaotic scenes with smoke, panicked civilians fleeing, and emergency responders on site. Authorities have yet to release official casualty details.…
— Dino breaking news (@DinoLeadingNews)
The attacker, an eighth-grade student, broke into two classrooms where fifth-grade children (10-11 years old) were and started shooting indiscriminately.
A teenage student shot at least four people dead, including three fellow pupils, and wounded at least 20 others at a middle school in Turkey, the local governor said, marking the country’s second school attack in two days
— Reuters (@Reuters)
The “idol” of the 14-year-old and misogyny
The facts that come to light from the Turkish police are chilling. The 14-year-old seems to have been inspired by Elliot Rogers, the American who in 2014 committed the massacre in Isla Vista, California, as “punishment” to the women who rejected him.
“Initial findings indicated that the attacker used an image on his WhatsApp profile that referred to Elliot Roger,” the official police statement said, noting an online wave of violence allegedly linked to the PUGB game.
Armed “like a lobster” with his father’s weapons
The district governor, Mukerem Unluer, revealed that the teenager was carrying five guns and seven magazines in his backpack, which allegedly belonged to his father, a former police inspector.
🇹🇷 New footage has emerged of the attacker, İsa Aras Mersinli, who shot and killed 9 people and injured 13 in Kahramanmaraş today.
The video was reportedly recorded by classmates shortly before the attack.
The attacker died by suicide.
— Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24)
The father of the attacker, Ugur Mersinli, as well as his mother, have already been arrested and are being held. The 14-year-old himself fell dead during the carnage, with authorities investigating whether he committed suicide or died in the chaos that ensued.
📢 The body of İsa Aras Mersinli, who committed suicide after attacking the school in Kahramanmaraş, was taken out of the school with an armored police vehicle.
📌Meanwhile, the crowd waiting in front of the school tried to stop the vehicle. The police vehicle moved away from the area with difficulty through the crowd
— T24 (@t24comtr)
Wave of violence in Turkey’s schools
Ihlas News Agency via REUTERS
This incident is the second in just two days, causing strong concern for security in the country’s educational institutions:
- On Tuesday: A former student opened fire at a school in Sanliurfa, injuring 16 people before killing himself.
- In May 2024: A school principal in Istanbul is shot dead by a former student.
At the same time, after yesterday’s massacre, according to the correspondent of ERTnews in Turkey, three arrests have been made, one of which concerns a student, after his post on social media, in which he announced a similar attack on a school in the province of Sivas in central Anatolia.
At the same time, 591 social media accounts are under investigation that applaud the two bloody attacks on schools in recent days.
Political reactions and security gaps
The leader of the main opposition party (CHP), Ozgur Ozel, spoke of a “deep security vulnerability”, stressing that school violence can no longer be considered an isolated event. He called for immediate measures, such as full control at the entrances, an increase in security personnel and intensified patrols.
First, in Istanbul, we lost our teacher Fatma due to an attack by her student.
16 people were injured in an armed attack at a school in Şanlıurfa yesterday.
Today, another fire fell into our hearts with the news from Kahramanmaraş.May God have mercy on our citizens who lost their lives,…
— Özgür Özel (@eczozgurozel)
Despite Turkey’s strict gun laws, it is estimated that thousands of illegal weapons are in circulation, and the 14-year-old’s ease of access to his father’s weaponry is reopening the debate about citizen safety.
The government announced enhanced security measures in schools with the cooperation of four ministries, Education, Health, Justice and Public Order.
