As the victims of the assault have been being lowered into their graves, extra particulars have been rising in regards to the killer. The authorities right here say he referred on social media to an American gunman, Elliot Rodgers, who killed six college students in California in 2014. They additionally say an entry on his laptop, dated 11 April, indicated there can be a main assault “in the near future”.
He didn’t should go far to get weapons – simply to the bed room of his father, a former police officer who’s himself now underneath arrest. He has made a assertion to the authorities, in line with reviews within the native media, portray a image of a vivid however troubled teenager who spent a lot of time taking part in conflict video games on his laptop and was attending a psychologist.
While mass college shootings are a acquainted horror for the US, that is a new trauma for Turkey. The authorities need to calm the general public and management the narrative.
Around 150 folks have been detained for social media posts in regards to the killings, accused of spreading misinformation, or “glorifying crime and criminals”. More than 1,000 social media accounts and Telegram teams have been blocked.
There is not any proof of any hyperlink between the 2 assaults this week. And police say “initial findings indicate” that the killer in Kahramanmaras acted alone and was not linked to any terrorist organisation.
At the college gates, now locked, and guarded by police, academics laid flowers in reminiscence of the kids who have been killed the place they need to have been secure.
