Authorities in Turkey confirmed Thursday that the casualty count from this week’s devastating middle school attack has reached 10 fatalities after another wounded victim succumbed to injuries at the hospital.
The tragic incident unfolded Wednesday when 14-year-old Isa Aras Mersinli carried out a deadly assault at his middle school in Kahramanmaras, located in southern Turkey. The teenager fatally shot one teacher and eight students while injuring 13 additional people before taking his own life.
Medical officials reported that six injured victims remained in serious condition prior to Thursday’s additional death.
Investigators discovered the young shooter had brought five weapons and seven ammunition clips to the school, all belonging to his father – a former police superintendent who has since been taken into custody.
This horrific event occurred merely one day following another school attack in the nearby Sanliurfa province, where a former student wounded 16 individuals at a high school before ending his own life. Most of those injured were students, and authorities have detained 20 people related to Tuesday’s incident.
In response to these unprecedented back-to-back tragedies, Turkey’s interior and education officials convened an emergency security conference Thursday in Ankara. The meeting brought together both cabinet ministers, all 81 regional governors, law enforcement commanders, and educational administrators from across the nation.
A disturbing detail emerged when national police revealed the Kahramanmaras shooter had displayed a photograph of Elliot Rodger as his WhatsApp profile image – referencing the California college student who murdered six people in 2014.
Turkey’s Ministry of Family and Social Services announced the formation of a specialized team to deliver mental health assistance to affected students and families, while also launching a comprehensive review of similar violent incidents.
Funeral services took place Thursday afternoon for the eight 11-year-old students who perished in the attack. Mathematics instructor Ayla Kara, age 55, was also laid to rest the same day.
Cevdet Yesil, father of victim Adnan Gokturk Yesil, described his agonizing experience rushing to the school after learning of the violence. “And unfortunately we searched for our child, our son, until 5 p.m. One way or another, our security forces found him,” Yesil said. “We went to the hospital and identified (his remains). We saw he had died.”
Hundreds of teachers and school staff demonstrated in both Ankara and Izmir, calling for enhanced campus protection measures. Such violent incidents at schools had been extremely uncommon in Turkey until this week’s attacks.
The crisis prompted widespread concern about copycat threats, leading to the arrest of dozens of students Thursday for social media posts suggesting they might carry out similar attacks. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek reported that 67 individuals were detained for online posts targeting 54 different educational institutions.
