Shooting outside vocational school in Turgutlu leaves at least four injured

A gunman opened fire in front of a vocational and technical high school in Turgutlu, a town in the Manisa province of western Turkey, injuring at least four people.

The Office of the Governor of Manisa confirmed the shooting and said police and medical teams were dispatched to the scene. Initial reports indicate the majority of the wounded are pupils who were arriving at school.

Context and immediate response

Witnesses said the attacker fired from a rifle at students coming to class. The motive for the attack remains unknown as authorities continue their investigation and secure the area.

The incident comes five months after two serious attacks on Turkish schools. On 15 April a 14-year-old student opened fire in two classrooms in Kahramanmaraş; ten people were killed — a teacher and nine students — and 13 were wounded, and the attacker also died. A day earlier a former pupil attacked a vocational high school in Siverek, Şanlıurfa province, wounding 16 people, including ten students and four teachers; that attacker later committed suicide.

After those April attacks, the Turkish Ministry of Education announced additional security measures for schools.

Photo: press material from the event