Ex-student injures 16, kills self in Turkish school shooting

Ankara, Apr 14 (EFE).- A former student opened fire with a shotgun at a high school in southeastern Turkey on Tuesday, injuring at least 15 students and a teacher before taking his own life, authorities said.

The attack took place at a technical institute in the Siverek district of Şanliurfa province, where the assailant fired indiscriminately inside the school, according to local media and officials.

All the injured were taken to hospital, and the teacher remains in critical condition, Şanliurfa Governor Hasan Şıldak told reporters outside the school.

Şıldak said the attacker, born in 2007 and a former student at the institution, barricaded himself inside the building after the shooting.

The attacker, born in 2007 and a former student of the institution, entered the building through the main door and began shooting indiscriminately, according to the newspaper Hürriyet.

«The attacker, a young man between 17 and 18 years old, started shooting immediately after entering through the main door. He shot everyone who crossed his path. Students screamed and fled in terror,» a witness told the newspaper.

Numerous police special operations units and medical teams rushed to the scene, while security forces evacuated students before entering the building to locate the attacker.

Şıldak said the assailant barricaded himself inside the school and refused to surrender despite police efforts to negotiate.

«The police cornered the attacker inside the school,» Şıldak said in televised remarks. «He did not surrender and eventually shot himself with the same shotgun, dying instantly.»

The motive for the attack remains unknown. Authorities have opened an investigation into the incident, which has shocked public opinion in Turkey, where school shootings are rare. EFE

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