At least 9 killed, 13 injured in new school shooting in Türk

ANKARA, April 15 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed in a school shooting in southern Türkiye's Kahramanmaras city on Wednesday, according to the country's Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci.

Eight of those who died were students and one was a teacher, Ciftci said, adding that 13 were injured, six of them seriously.

Meanwhile, Turkish Education Minister Yusuf Tekin said education and training in Kahramanmaras have been suspended for two days.

The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. local time (1030 GMT) at Ayser Calik Middle School in the Onikisubat district, where the attacker entered two classrooms to carry out the attack, local broadcaster NTV reported, quoting Kahramanmaras Governor Mukerrem Unluer as saying.

According to the latest information shared by NTV, the attacker was Isa Aras Mersinli, an eighth-grade student at the same school, who later committed suicide, while his father, Ugur Mersinli, a former police officer, was taken into custody.

Initial reports said the attacker targeted fifth-grade students, adding that the gunman is believed to have used weapons belonging to his father.

Unluer said that the attacker came to the school with a backpack and carried out the attack with five guns and seven magazines.

The governor said the attacker also died in the incident. "He shot himself during the chaos."

Earlier, NTV reported from the scene that the sound of gunfire was very intense and numerous injuries and fatalities have been reported.

Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced an investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Ciftci and Education Minister Tekin have reportedly set off for Kahramanmaras.

A publication ban has been issued demanding press organizations "respect the confidentiality of the investigation," Gurlek said.

The incident took place just one day after a school shooting in the Siverek district in southeastern Türkiye's Sanliurfa province, where a former student at the school injured at least 16 people with a shotgun on campus before taking his own life.