Eighth grader kills 9, injures 13 in Turkey’s second school shooting in 2 days

A 14-year-old boy armed with five guns opened fire at a Turkish school on Wednesday, killing nine people, injuring 13 and sparking riots as students fled through windows.

The attack in the southern province of Kahramanmaras was the second in Turkey such an incident most days, it shocks a country where school shootings are rare.

Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci confirmed nine deaths and 13 injuries – six are in intensive care units, three of them in critical condition.

The minister described the attacker as “a 14-year-old eighth-grader.”

“The student came to the school with guns that we believe are his father’s in his bag. He entered two classrooms and opened fire without paying attention, he was injured and died,” said the governor of Kahramanmaras province Mukerrem Unluer told the media at the beginning of the day.

Dramatic footage captured by a resident of a nearby building and verified by AFP shows students jumping from the school’s first-floor window to escape the gunfire, while scores of others fled the courtyard.

About 15 gunshots can be heard in the minute-and-a-half video.

Unluer said the attacker was the son of a former policeman, armed with five guns and seven magazines. He died when this incident happened.

“He shot himself. It is not clear if this was a suicide or if it happened in the midst of chaos,” he said.

Police arrested the shooter’s father, Ugur Mersinli, Anadolu media reported.

Pictures released by the independent IHA news agency showed a man, body and face covered, being taken out in an ambulance during the attack, and crying parents rushing to a school in the southern province’s main city, Kahramanmaras.

Police have tightened security at the building, and television footage shows ambulances in the area. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said prosecutors have started an investigation immediately.

The shooting occurred after an assailant on Tuesday opened fire at the school he attended in Siverek, Sanliurfa district, injuring 16 people before killing himself during an altercation with the police. Ten students were among those injured in the incident, when an 18-year-old assailant opened fire at the high school.

He killed himself with a gun after he was “pointed out by the police,” said Gov. Hasan Sildak, the Associated Press reports.

The motive for the attack was unclear, and Sildak said the attacker had no criminal record.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking to the ruling AKP party in parliament, promised that those found to be negligent or at fault “will certainly be held accountable” for school shootings. The police arrested one suspect after Tuesday’s incident and suspended four officers, Erdogan said. The school was ordered to be closed for four days.

School shootings in Turkey were rare until this week. Turkey has strict gun laws that require licensing, registration, psychological and criminal examinations, and heavy penalties for illegal possession.