Teen suspect arrested after shooting near Turkish high school

A 15-year-old boy was taken into custody after a gunman opened fire near a high school in western Turkey on Tuesday morning, injuring multiple people and adding to a series of school attacks that has unsettled the country this year.

The shooting happened near the Inci Uzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in the Turgutlu district of Manisa province. The Manisa governor’s office said eight people, including students, were wounded and taken to local hospitals for treatment. The BBC reported that at least 11 people were injured, with two in critical condition.

“A report was received regarding gunfire in the vicinity of the Inci Uzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in our Turgutlu district at 07:59,” the governor’s office said in a statement on X.

Police arrested the suspect after he tried to flee, authorities said. “After the incident, the suspect believed to have fired the weapon was caught by security forces and taken into custody,” the governor’s office said.

The motive was not immediately clear and remained under investigation. The BBC reported that the suspect was a student at the school. Under Turkish law, the teenager must appear before a court before being formally arrested.

Turkish Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said the suspect’s mother, father and grandfather had also been detained, according to the BBC.

Images and CCTV footage circulated after the shooting appeared to show the suspect near the school with a gun. The BBC reported that one video appeared to show the teenager walking through empty streets while checking a visible shotgun, dressed casually and moving without apparent urgency. Later footage showed the apparent suspect running from the scene with the weapon still in hand.

Turkey’s education ministry said the attack had “deeply saddened our nation, and our educational community in particular.” The ministry said three national investigators had been sent to Manisa.

The shooting follows two other school attacks in Turkey earlier this year. Al Jazeera reported that in April, 16 people, most of them students, were wounded when a former student opened fire at a high school in Sanliurfa province before killing himself. The following day, a 14-year-old killed nine people, including students and teachers, and wounded 13 others at a school in Kahramanmaras province; Al Jazeera reported that the assailant was killed by police.

The BBC reported that the Kahramanmaras attack killed nine students aged 10 and 11 and one teacher, and that the gunman died at the scene.

The BBC said the latest shooting was the third school shooting in Turkey this year and came as the government continues to grapple with how to respond to the recent spate of violence. Two deadly school shootings in April caused outrage and led to new security measures for the 2026-2027 academic year, including tighter gun controls, the BBC reported. Before then, Turkey did not have a history of school shootings, according to the BBC.