Turkey school shooting: 11 wounded outside Manisa high school, suspect arrested

At least 11 people were wounded after a suspected student opened fire outside a high school in Turkey's western Manisa province on Tuesday, with two of the injured in critical condition, officials said.The suspected shooter was arrested.The shooting took place at around 8 am local time outside Inci Uzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in the Turgutlu district, according to the local governor's office. Police and medical teams were sent to the scene.Justice minister Akin Gurlek said two chief prosecutors had been appointed to investigate the incident. The motive was not immediately known, while allegations that the student had been bullied at the school were also being investigated.Parents, grandfather detained as gun access probedAccording to Reuters, Gurlek said the suspect's mother, father and grandfather, who owned the weapon used in the attack, had been detained. He said investigators were examining how the child obtained the gun, how it had been stored and the parents' responsibilities regarding care and supervision."When the security of our children is the issue, it is not possible for any negligence, any irresponsibility to be overlooked," Gurlek said on X.Turkish media reported that the suspect was a student at the school and had taken a shotgun from his grandmother's house before opening fire near the school and attempting to flee on foot. The claim about the suspect's age was not officially confirmed.Videos show armed figure near schoolImages and videos shared online appeared to show a male figure carrying a firearm near the school before running away.Footage from outside the school also showed police keeping families and others away from the premises.The attack prompted anxious parents to rush to the school, with confrontations reported between some parents and police who were blocking access to the building.Shooting follows two deadly school attacksThe incident comes months after two school shootings in Turkey in April that left several people dead and injured. In one attack in Sanliurfa province, 16 people, mostly students, were wounded after a former student opened fire at a high school before killing himself.The following day, a 14-year-old student opened fire inside two classrooms at a school in nearby Kahramanmaras province, killing eight students and a teacher and injuring 13 others. Police killed the attacker.The April shootings prompted Turkey to introduce additional security measures at educational facilities for the 2026-27 academic year, including tighter gun controls. Security at schools had been increased at the start of the academic year last week.Vice president Cevdet Yilmaz said interior minister Mustafa Ciftci and education minister Yusuf Tekin were travelling to Manisa to conduct inspections.The education ministry also sent three national investigators to the province.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.