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Turkey to hold funerals for victims of school shooting / Photo: HANDOUT - DHA (Demiroren News Agency)/AFP
Turkey to hold funerals for victims of school shooting
Funerals will be held on Thursday for nine people killed when a 14-year-old opened fire at a school in Turkey, sending shock waves across the country.
The attack in the southern province of Kahramanmaras was Turkey's second such incident this week in a country where such shootings have been rare.
The funerals will be for eight children aged 10 and 11 and a 55-year-old teacher, the local authorities said.
Police said Thursday that the teenager had referenced US mass killer Elliot Rodger in a photo on his WhatsApp profile.
"Initial findings from the investigation revealed that the perpetrator used an image on his WhatsApp profile referencing Elliot Rodger, who carried out an attack in the United States in 2014," the police said in a statement.
Rodger -- a 22-year-old American-- killed six people on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, before taking his own life.
Rodger explained in a video released before his crime that the attack was "punishment" for the women who had rejected him.
The 14-year-old who carried out Wednesday's shooting died at the scene, officials said, though it was not clear how his death happened.
The father of teenager, identified as a former police inspector, was arrested on Wednesday and taken into custody, the police said.
"Digital media seized during searches of the perpetrator's home and his father's vehicle have been confiscated and are currently being analysed," the police said.
"Based on initial findings, no link to terrorism has been established. This appears to be an isolated act."
A.Schmidt--BlnAP
