Nine dead in another school shooting in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A student opened fire on two classrooms at a middle school in Turkey on Wednesday, killing nine people and wounding 13 others, the interior minister said, in the country’s second such shooting in two days.

The 14-year-old gunman was killed. He arrived at the school armed with guns believed to belong to his father, a retired police officer, Kahramanmaras provincial Gov. Mukerrem Unluer said. He was carrying five firearms and seven magazines.

The motive of the attack wasn’t immediately known. It was not clear whether the gunman was killed by police or killed himself.

Six of the 13 people wounded were in serious condition, Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said.

The attack came a day after 16 people, mostly students, were wounded when a former student opened fire at a high school in nearby Sanliurfa province. The assailant later killed himself.

Until this week, school shootings were rare in Turkey.

State-run broadcaster, TRT, identified the latest shooter as Isa Aras Mersinli and said his father was detained for questioning.

Turkish authorities imposed a ban on the broadcast of “traumatic” images from the shooting, warning media organizations to limit coverage to statements from officials.

Parents rushed to the school in Kahramanmaras’ Onikisubat district after hearing reports of an armed attack, NTV television reported.