Turkish school shooter used image referencing 2014 US mass killer, police say
Police in Türkiye linked the 14-year-old who killed nine people to US mass killer Elliot Rodger, as 162 individuals were detained over related online content.
People stand at the courtyard of a secondary school where an assailant opened fire, in Kahramanmaras, Türkiye, Wednesday, Apr 15, 2026, (Photo: AP/IHA)
ANKARA: A 14-year-old student who shot dead eight fellow pupils at a school in Türkiye had used an image referencing a 2014 US mass killer, Elliot Rodger, on his WhatsApp profile, police said on Thursday (Apr 16).
In Turkey's second school shooting in just two days, the middle school student also killed a teacher and wounded 20 other people in Wednesday's attack in the southeastern Kahramanmaras province, shocking a nation where school shootings are very rare.
Turkish police said initial findings showed that the assailant had used an image referencing the US gunman Rodger, who killed six college students near Santa Barbara, California in 2014.
"Initial findings indicate no connection to terrorism, the incident is believed to be an individual attack," police said.
Rodger had expressed frustration about his lack of success with women in an internet manifesto before his US rampage, and he was later praised by a number of perpetrators of school shootings.
It was not immediately clear whether the Turkish teenager had the same motivation as Rodger.
Funerals for the victims - eight 11-year-old children and the 55-year-old teacher - were held on Thursday in Kahramanmaras as families wept before coffins.
FATHER JAILED
The attacker used five pistols that belonged to his police officer father in the attack, and the court jailed the father pending trial, the local prosecutor's office said on Thursday.
In its examination, the prosecutor's office found a document on the attacker's computer dated April 11 that indicated a major attack would be carried out "in the near future".
In his statement to the prosecutor, the attacker's father said that he brought his son to a police shooting range to teach him how to use pistols, citing his son's interest in using guns, Turkish daily Yeni Safak reported. Video footage on the website of another daily, Sabah, showed the teenager aiming and shooting at targets in the range.
Officials told reporters on Wednesday that the attacker took his own life after the attack. But on Thursday Sabah, citing the autopsy, reported that it found the 14-year-old died from blood loss following a cut to the back of his leg caused by a sharp object.
TEACHERS PROTEST
Separately, 162 people across Türkiye have been detained for "glorifying crime and criminals" since the school shootings on Tuesday and Wednesday, the police said, adding that more than 1,000 social media accounts and Telegram groups were blocked over the issue.
Also on Thursday, teacher unions demonstrated in front of the education ministry building in Ankara to protest school conditions and the latest wave of violence.
"Violence itself is a consequence," said Dilek Cakman, a member of Egitim-Sen teachers trade union, calling on the education minister to resign. "It shouldn't be attributed solely to a student's past traumas. We need research to understand the underlying reasons that push students towards violence or crime".
