16 Wounded as Teen Gunman Opens Fire at High School

Panic exploded inside a high school in southeastern Turkey after an 18-year-old former student allegedly stormed the building with a shotgun and opened fire, leaving at least 16 people wounded before turning the weapon on himself.

The terrifying attack unfolded Tuesday at a vocational high school in Siverek, in Turkey’s Sanliurfa province, where authorities said the gunman fired randomly inside classrooms, sending students and teachers scrambling for their lives. According to officials, the suspect was eventually cornered by police inside the school before killing himself with the same shotgun.

Gov. Hasan Sildak said the wounded included 10 students, four teachers, a canteen worker, and a police officer. Most were treated in Siverek, but five victims whose injuries were more serious were transferred to a hospital in the provincial capital.

The motive behind the shooting remains unclear, but reports say the teen may have hinted at the attack on social media before carrying it out. Authorities said he did not have a criminal record, and the school had previously been considered safe enough that no permanent police officer had been assigned to the campus.

One student described the horrifying moment the gunman entered his classroom and started firing without warning. Omer Furkan Sayar told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency that the attacker walked in and pulled the trigger several times, hitting two people before moving into the next room. Sayar said he and another student first dropped to the ground, then leaped out of a classroom window to escape.

“He didn’t say anything,” the student recalled. “He entered and started to shoot directly.”

As chaos spread across the school, students were evacuated while police special operations teams rushed in. Video from the scene showed dozens of terrified students sprinting out through the school gates and flooding into the street as the campus was locked down.

Officials have called the shooting an isolated incident, but it has still sent shockwaves through Turkey, where school shootings are considered rare. Authorities say a full investigation is now underway into how the attack unfolded and whether warning signs were missed before bullets started flying.