An adolescent who opened fire on Wednesday, April 15th at a school in southern Turkey, killing nine people, had paid tribute to the perpetrator of a misogynistic attack in the United States, the police said on Thursday.
“The initial findings of the investigation revealed that the perpetrator used an image on his WhatsApp profile referring to Elliot Rodger, who carried out an attack in the United States in 2014,” the Turkish police department said in a statement.
The shooter’s father, identified as a former police inspector, was arrested on Wednesday and placed in detention, she added.
The reference to Elliot Rodger refers to the author of the Isla Vista massacre in 2014 in California. This man killed six people on the campus of a Santa Barbara university before committing suicide. He explained in a video released before his crime that the attack was a “retaliation” against women who had rejected him.
No link to terrorism:
The author of the shooting on Wednesday, a 14-year-old, died, the governor of the Kahramanmaras province said on Wednesday, without being able to specify “whether it was a suicide or if it happened in the chaos.”
“Digital media seized during searches at the perpetrator’s home and in his father’s vehicle have been confiscated and are being analyzed. (…) According to the initial findings, no link to terrorism has been established, it is likely an isolated act,” the Turkish police added.
“A student arrived at the school with weapons, presumably those of his father, in his backpack. He entered two classrooms and randomly opened fire,” Mükerram Önkölo, said, following a similar attack the day before that injured sixteen in a high school located 200 km to the east.
Such incidents are rare in Turkey, where, according to estimates from a local foundation, tens of millions of firearms are in circulation, most illegally.
Stay informed by subscribing to the RTL newsletter and receive the latest news directly in your mailbox. Subscribe to the RTL Info newsletter to stay informed daily by creating an account with RTL.
