In the southeastern Turkish city of Kahramanmaras, traditionally known for its ice cream, a new and terrible distinction has emerged—the site of the nation's first deadly mass school shooting. A 14-year-old student opened fire at Ayser Calik Secondary School on Wednesday, killing eight children and one teacher before being killed at the scene.
Outside a morgue, about a dozen men rushed to carry a coffin that held only the weight of a 10-year-old boy. His father followed, supported by relatives but crushed by grief. "Oh, my martyred child," he cried, "oh my darling."
As coffins draped in Turkish flags emerged one by one, a woman yelled at waiting police: "Too late, too late. You didn't save the children." Another shouted that the attacker should be hanged in the main square, though he was already dead.
"She became an angel, and she flew away," said Mahmut, uncle of 10-year-old victim Zeynep, his voice breaking. "My only wish is to have more security at the schools, so this does not happen again. This pain landed on us. I do not want it to fall on anyone else."
The tragedy struck just one day after a former student roamed corridors at another school in the same region, wounding 16 people before killing himself.
"There have been two attacks, in a very short period, both in cities with lower incomes," said Professor Asli Carkoglu, an expert in teen psychology. "These things do have a way of spreading."
She expressed concern that the deadly shooting could become "an example for young minds that are frustrated enough," noting that while guns were new to school violence in Turkey, the underlying aggression was not.
"There have been stabbings, beatings and attempted suicides in the school system," she explained. "The guns weren't there before, but the violence was."
Authorities revealed the young attacker referenced American gunman Elliot Rodgers, who killed six students in California in 2014, on social media. An entry on his computer dated April 11 indicated plans for "a major attack in the near future."
The teenager obtained weapons from his father's bedroom—his father, a former police officer now under arrest, reportedly described his son as bright but troubled, spending excessive time playing war games and attending psychological counseling.
While mass school shootings are tragically familiar in the United States, this represents a new trauma for Turkey. Authorities have responded by detaining approximately 150 people for social media posts about the killings, accusing them of spreading misinformation or "glorifying crime and criminals," and blocking over 1,000 social media accounts and Telegram groups.
Police stated "initial findings indicate" the attacker acted alone with no terrorist organization links. At the now-locked school gates, guarded by police, teachers laid flowers in memory of the children killed where they should have been safe.