Eleven people, reportedly all students, were wounded and two remain in critical condition after a gunman opened fire outside the Inci Uzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Manisa on Tuesday morning, prompting police to detain a 15-year-old male suspect and three family members.
Turkish authorities say the suspect was taken into custody after the attack and that his mother, father and grandfather were also detained. Justice minister Akın Gürlek told officials the grandfather reportedly owned the weapon. CCTV footage circulating from the scene appears to show a young man carrying and checking a shotgun in largely empty streets, then running from the school grounds with the firearm still in his hand.
The motive for the attack has not been established. Local officials say the injured are students at the school. Under Turkish law the teenager must appear before a court before being formally arrested, a step that will determine whether he is detained on criminal charges.
Tensions over school safety have been rising in Turkey this year. This incident is the third shooting at an educational institution in 2026, following two deadly attacks in April that left the country reeling and prompted new security measures for the 2026-2027 academic year, including tighter gun controls. One April attack in Kahramanmaras involved a 14-year-old who killed nine pupils aged 10 and 11 and one teacher; that gunman died at the scene.
The education ministry issued a statement saying the event had "deeply saddened our nation, and our educational community in particular" and added that three national investigators had been dispatched to Manisa. The ministry response, and the involvement of the justice ministry in detaining relatives, signals a national-level mobilisation of agencies to manage the inquiry.
Investigations are ongoing, with courts set to determine the legal status of the detained teenager. The government continues to grapple with how to address the recent spate of violence, a dynamic that will shape whether further security changes or legal measures are applied to prevent further attacks on schools.
