Three students remain in intensive care after a shooting near İnci Üzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in Turgutlu, Manisa, that injured 11 students on Sep 22.
Ten people detained after the shooting, including the 15-year-old suspect, their parents and grandparents. Family members are being held responsible over the child’s access to the firearm. Three other minors are also in custody.
Gülizar Biçer Karaca, an MP for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), shared with bianet notes from a fact-finding visit that included meetings with students, families, health care workers and school administrators following the shooting.
Karaca’s notes detail parents’ concerns about sending their children back to school, security measures around the campus and an unverified allegation about the conduct of private security personnel during the attack.
‘How are we supposed to trust the state?’
According to the notes, the delegation first visited Turgutlu State Hospital after arriving in the district.
A deputy chief physician told the delegation that eight injured students had been treated or undergone surgery at Turgutlu State Hospital, one at Manisa City Hospital and two at Manisa Celal Bayar University Faculty of Medicine Hospital.
The delegation visited four students receiving treatment at Turgutlu State Hospital and spoke with them about their health and what they had experienced. Karaca said the students they visited were generally in good condition.
The delegation also met with family members and relatives at the hospital. Karaca’s notes said anxiety, anger and distrust were prominent during the conversations.
“We are not even sending our children to school anymore. Solve this problem. How are we supposed to trust the state?” parents were quoted as saying.
Karaca said the families’ comments showed that the attack had become a broader issue of safety and trust for students and parents across the district, not only for those who were injured.
What did the school administration say?
After visiting the hospital, the delegation went to the CHP’s Turgutlu district office and later met with administrators at the school where the attack took place.
Notes from the meeting with the school principal said the 15-year-old accused of carrying out the shooting was a ninth-grade student who opened fire on students near the school entrance.
A shotgun was used in the attack, which took place outside the school building on the street where students were arriving for classes.
According to the principal, at least eight of those injured were students at İnci Üzmez Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School. Three others were waiting in the area for transportation to other schools.
Karaca noted that the breakdown was based on interviews conducted during the visit and had not yet been confirmed in that level of detail in publicly available official statements.
Allegation involving security personnel
During meetings at the school, the delegation was also told that a private security guard was among the first people to leave the school during the attack.
Karaca said the delegation had not independently verified the allegation and that it should be specifically examined as part of the administrative investigation.
The notes also pointed out that the attack occurred as students were arriving at school and called for scrutiny of security measures at school entrances and surrounding areas, as well as the responsibilities of security personnel during a crisis.
Attack came a day after school security meeting
Karaca also drew attention to the timing of the attack.
A “School Security” meeting had been held on Sep 21 at the Interior Ministry’s Security and Emergency Coordination Center (GAMER), attended by Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi and National Education Minister Yusuf Tekin. Governors from all 81 provinces joined by video conference.
The meeting addressed a cooperation protocol prepared by seven ministries aimed at strengthening protective and preventive measures for children during their education.
Çiftçi had said security measures were increased after attacks during the previous school year and that 31,000 schoolyard personnel had been employed for the first time this year.
Karaca said the fact that a child was able to arrive near a school with a firearm the following morning and injure 11 students raised questions about how those measures were being implemented and whether existing security mechanisms were adequate.
“The incident clearly demonstrates that the measures announced following previous school attacks were not sufficient to prevent this attack in Turgutlu,” the notes said.
Karaca said access to firearms, early identification of risks, security at and around school entrances, counseling services and the responsibilities of security personnel during emergencies should all be examined in detail.
Following the health information provided during the delegation’s visit, authorities said on Sep 25 that eight of the injured students had been discharged, while three remained under treatment. (NÖ/VK)
