On Tuesday, September 22, 2026, a gunman opened fire outside the Inci Uzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Turkey's western province of Manisa. The shooting occurred at approximately 08:00 local time (05:00 GMT), leaving 11 people injured. Turkish Justice Minister Akın Gürlek reported that the wounded are students.
Police detained a 15-year-old male suspect shortly after the incident. Justice Minister Gürlek stated that the suspect's mother, father, and grandfather—who reportedly owned the firearm—were also taken into custody. According to Turkish law, the teenager must appear before a court before a formal arrest can be finalized. The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.
Local media reports indicated that two of the injured were in critical condition at the hospital. CCTV footage appeared to show a casually dressed male carrying a shotgun through empty streets before fleeing the scene with the weapon in hand. The Ministry of Education sent three national investigators to Manisa, and the Interior and Education Ministers traveled to the area to inspect the situation.
The shooting affected the student body of the Inci Uzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School. Eleven individuals were hospitalized following the morning attack, with two victims in critical condition.
The incident follows a shift in Turkish public safety, as the country has historically not seen a high frequency of school shootings. This is the third such event in Turkey during 2026, following an April shooting in Kahramanmaras where a 14-year-old killed nine students and one teacher. For the 2026-2027 academic year, these events have already led the government to implement tighter security measures and stricter gun controls.
The incident sets a precedent for how Turkish authorities handle firearm access within families, as seen by the detention of the suspect's parents and grandfather. Moving forward, the 15-year-old suspect is scheduled to appear in court for legal proceedings. The Ministry of Education investigators will continue their probe into the site's security, while the government continues to evaluate the effectiveness of the recently introduced security measures for the current academic year.
What happens next: The 15-year-old suspect is required to appear before a court for formal arrest proceedings. The Ministry of Education has not yet provided a deadline for its internal investigation, and the health status of the two victims in critical condition remains under observation by medical staff.