2026 Siverek school shooting
The perpetrator loading his shotgun
Location 37°45′12″N 39°19′33″E / 37.75333°N 39.32583°E / 37.75333; 39.32583
Siverek, Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey
Date 14 April 2026 (2026-04-14)
c.9:30 a.m. (TRT; UTC+3:00)
Attack type
School shooting, mass shooting, attempted murder-suicide
Weapon Pump action shotgun
Deaths 1 (the perpetrator)
Injured 16
Perpetrator Ömer Ket[1]
Motive Under investigation

On 14 April 2026, a school shooting occurred at the Ahmet Koyuncu Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Siverek, Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Sixteen people were injured before the perpetrator, 19-year-old Ömer Ket, committed suicide. Twenty-eight hours after the shooting, another shooting occurred in the Onikişubat district of Kahramanmaraş.[2]

Background

See also: Crime in Turkey § Guns

Turkey’s gun laws require licensing, registration, mental and criminal background checks, and severe penalties for illegal possession. Although these laws are strict,[3] the number of illegal guns is estimated to have increased to 25 million, perhaps ten times the legal number.[4][5][6]

School shootings are rare in Turkey, although there are occasional knife attacks.[7] In May 2024, a former student killed the principal of a private high school in Istanbul with a firearm five months after being expelled. He fled after the shooting and was arrested later. The killing triggered a nationwide debate while thousands of teachers demonstrated in Istanbul, calling for increased school safety measures.[3] In March 2026, a biology teacher, Fatma Nur Çelik, was stabbed to death by a 17-year-old student, while another teacher and a student were injured.[8] Çelik had previously raised concerns about the student who would later kill her, he had disciplinary issues, and Çelik told colleagues, "we have no personal safety."[9]

Prior to the shooting in Onikişubat, the deadliest school shooting in modern Turkish history was the 2018 Eskişehir University shooting, in which 37-year-old research assistant Volkan Bayar shot and killed four staff members and injured three other people at Eskişehir Osmangazi University.[10][11]

Shooting

The gunman arrived at the school with a shotgun and opened fire outside the building[7] at around 9:30 a.m. local time before hiding inside.[12][13][14] CCTV showed the perpetrator walking through a corridor while firing at people.[15][16] An injured student told Turkish Radio and Television Corporation that the gunman entered at least two classrooms, including the one he was in. Once he opened fire, students jumped out of a window.[17] The gunman was cornered by police and killed himself with a self-inflicted gunshot.[7]

Victims

Ten students, four teachers, a cafeteria employee and a police officer were injured in the shooting. Eleven victims were treated in Siverek, while the other five were transported to a hospital in Urfa with more serious injuries.[13][18]

Perpetrator

The perpetrator was identified as 19-year-old Ömer Ket, a former student who had attended the school for one year.[7] He had previously been expelled for failing a grade due to absenteeism, amongst others in ninth grade, but continued with distance learning.[13][19] He did not have a criminal record. The motive for the shooting is unknown and remains under investigation.[20]

After the Forensic Medicine Institute released his body to his family, Ket was buried in Urfa under heavy police guard. His family was placed under state protection and transported from Siverek.[14]

Aftermath

A day after the attack, a 14-year-old opened fire at a middle school in Onikişubat, Kahramanmaras, killing ten people and injuring 12 others before getting stabbed to death, making it the deadliest school shooting in Turkish history.[2] On the same day, a teenager opened fire at a student outside of a high school in Gaziantep. Five shots were fired, but nobody was injured.[21] A high school student in Tarsus, Mersin, was also taken into custody after being caught with a handgun at school.[22]

See also

  • List of school attacks in Turkey
  • 2025 Balçova police station shooting
  • 2026 Onikişubat school shooting

Hope Foundation Turkish gun control non-government organization

References

  1. ^ "Attack with 16 injured in Turkey, the perpetrator had warned of the act, here's what he wrote on social media". www.voxnews.al. 14 April 2026. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  2. ^ a b "Student kills nine in Turkey's second school shooting in two days". Reuters. 15 April 2026. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  3. ^ a b "Turkey school shooting wounds 16, attacker dead". France 24. 14 April 2026. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  4. ^ "Ülke koca bir poligon: Her cepte bir silah var". BirGün (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  5. ^ SCF (29 April 2025). "Gun ownership soars in Turkey, raising security concerns". Stockholm Center for Freedom. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  6. ^ "Why Türkiye makes legal guns harder to get, while illegal ones flood streets". Türkiye Today. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  7. ^ a b c d Hubbard, Ben; Istanbul, Safak TimurReporting from (14 April 2026). "Ex-Student Opens Fire at High School in Turkey, Wounding 16". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  8. ^ "Justice minister confirms probe into school stabbing in Istanbul". Daily Sabah. 3 March 2026. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  9. ^ "Fatma Nur Çelik Murder". KÜRE Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  10. ^ "Shooting at Turkish university leaves 4 people dead; attacker arrested". globalnews.ca.
  11. ^ "Turkey university gunman kills four in Eskisehir". BBC. 5 April 2018.
  12. ^ "Sixteen injured after ex-student opens fire at high school in Turkey". BBC News. 14 April 2026. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  13. ^ a b c "Gunman opens fire at high school in Turkey, wounding at least 16". CNN. 14 April 2026. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  14. ^ a b "16 kişiyi yaralayan okul saldırganının cenazesi sessizce toprağa verildi". Sözcü (in Turkish). DHA. 15 April 2026. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  15. ^ "Sixteen injured and attacker dead after school shooting in Siverek, Turkey". Sky News. 14 April 2026. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  16. ^ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  17. ^ Hornung, Lisa (14 April 2026). "16 injured, attacker dead in school shooting in Turkey". United Press International. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  18. ^ "Students flee from Turkey high school during shooting". MSN. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  19. ^ Fisher, Clare (14 April 2026). "19-Year-Old Former Student Opens Fire in School, Wounding at Least 16 People Before Allegedly Killing Himself". People. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
  20. ^ "At least 16 wounded, gunman dead in school shooting in Turkey". CBC News. 14 April 2026. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  21. ^ "Gaziantep'te Lisede Silahlı Panik Yaşandı" [Gun Panic Erupts at High School in Gaziantep] (in Turkish). HaberTS. 15 April 2026. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  22. ^ "Tarsus'ta lise öğrencisi okulda tabancayla yakalandı" [A high school student in Tarsus was caught with a gun at school.] (in Turkish). Mersin Portal. 15 April 2026. Retrieved 15 April 2026.