Turkey School Shooting: 8 Wounded Outside Turgutlu High School, Student Gunman Detained

Eight people were wounded after a gunman opened fire outside a high school in western Turkey on Tuesday morning, with police detaining the suspected attacker shortly afterwards, local officials said.

The shooting took place at around 8 am in Turgutlu, in Manisa province near the western resort city of Izmir. Police and medical teams rushed to the school as authorities tightened security around the area and began an investigation into the incident.

According to Euronews, several local media outlets, including IHA news agency and private broadcaster NTV, reported that students were among those injured. The regional governor’s office said the suspect had been detained and that authorities had opened an investigation.

CCTV footage shows suspected attacker with gun

DHA news agency broadcast CCTV footage showing a young man wearing black jeans, a black jacket and a green top walking along a street while carrying what appeared to be a rifle.

IHA also published an image that appeared to show the same person with a gun, although he was seen running in the footage.

Euronews reported that separate footage from outside the school showed police officers wrestling a man in a white shirt to the ground before taking him away. A woman could be heard screaming as onlookers gathered against the school fence and filmed the scene on their mobile phones.

Earlier attacks raised school safety concerns

School shootings are rare in Turkey, although two attacks on consecutive days earlier this year sparked widespread anger and renewed concern over school security.

In April, a 14-year-old opened fire at a school in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş, killing a teacher and nine students aged 10 and 11. The attacker died at the scene.

A day earlier, another teenager opened fire at his former high school in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, wounding 16 people before taking his own life when confronted by police.

Following the two attacks, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dismissed a deputy education minister and pledged that his government would introduce tighter controls on gun ownership.

He also said school safety would be one of the government's top priorities.

"When we look at similar attacks around the world, especially in the United States, we see one of the perpetrators' aims is to terrorise society," he said.

New security measures introduced

The shooting came a day after Education Minister Yusuf Tekin and Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi signed a protocol setting out security measures for the 2026-2027 academic year, which began on September 14.

According to Euronews, Çiftçi said authorities had strengthened school security following the April shootings.

"To ensure such pain is never experienced again, I would like to remind everyone that we must be extremely vigilant this year," he said.

Çiftçi said 31,000 school grounds supervisors had been deployed for the first time.

The Interior Ministry also carried out a fresh security assessment of schools and assigned police officers to first- and second-degree risk schools, where they would remain on permanent duty, he said.

Schools classified as lower risk were assigned police liaison officers who would work in coordination with school administrations.

Police responsible for monitoring security, public order, narcotics and juvenile issues would conduct regular patrols around schools, Çiftçi said.

Authorities would also inspect school buses and review abandoned buildings near schools under the new measures.

Euronews reported that the security measures were introduced following the two school attacks earlier this year. Tuesday's shooting in Turgutlu is now under investigation as authorities continue to establish what happened outside the school.