- Eight people shot dead in western-central Turkey villages.
- One person seriously injured in Afyonkarahisar armed attacks.
- Authorities launched major manhunt for suspected gunman.
At least eight people were shot dead in three villages in western-central Turkey on Thursday, local authorities said, as security forces launched a major manhunt to track down the suspected gunman. The Afyonkarahisar governor’s office confirmed the deaths, reporting that another person was seriously injured in the attacks.
The shootings took place in the early evening in a rural area near Afyonkarahisar, located roughly midway between Turkey’s capital, Ankara, and the coastal city of Izmir.
8 dead and several injured in mass shooting
"Unfortunately, eight of our citizens have lost their lives, and one has been seriously injured in armed attacks in our province," the governor’s office said in a statement.
ALSO READ: US: Halloween Night Turns Deadly In Dallas As Shootings Leave 4 Dead And 15 Injured
Authorities are searching for the attacker, while further details about the circumstances and possible motive behind the shootings have yet to be disclosed.
8 killed in school shooting in April
Earlier in April this year, a 14-year-old student shot dead eight fellow pupils at a school in Turkey. He had used an image referencing a 2014 US mass killer, Elliot Rodger, on his WhatsApp profile. This was Turkey's second school shooting in just two days, the middle school student also killed a teacher and wounded 20 other people in attack in the southeastern Kahramanmaras province, shocking a nation where school shootings are very rare.
ALSO READ: Neo-Nazi Hate, Chilling Plot To Kill Indians: How US Teen's Hindu Temple Massacre Plot Was Foiled
Turkish police said initial findings showed that the assailant had used an image referencing the US gunman Rodger, who killed six college students near Santa Barbara, California in 2014.
(With inputs from agency)