Eight people were killed and another seriously injured in western Turkey after an armed man allegedly fired at various locations (including people inside vehicles).
Turkish authorities arrested the suspect and are investigating whether the attacks were related to a shooting earlier in which a woman was involved.
The attacks took place on Thursday, November 5 in Afyonkarahisar province. Shootings were reported in three villages and the victims were found in Ayazini, Kiyir and Yukaritandir. A major police operation was launched as the suspected gunman fled the area.
Eight people died and one person was seriously injured in Afyonkarahisar. Three were killed in Ayazini village while three more were killed in Kiyir nearby. Two women shot in Yukaritandir were taken to hospital but later died despite treatment.
Two of the women were teachers at Yukaritandir Middle School and residents are very concerned because the shootings took place in different places in the same region.
Suspect Arrested After Police Pursuit
Security forces then launched a search operation to find the shooter. CCTV footage posted by Turkish media reportedly showed a man with a shotgun near a faded red minivan.
Local media reported that the suspect drove off in a car then abandoned it in muddy terrain near Eskişehir province before walking away on foot and later taking another vehicle.
Police and gendarmerie teams eventually found him in the neighbouring Eskişehir province. Police fired at the tyres of the vehicle being pursued during the chase according to reports, and the suspect was taken into custody after the operation.
The arrest ended the immediate search for the attacker but investigators are still looking into the killings.
Possible connection to earlier shooting under investigation
One of the big questions investigators are now asking is whether the latest shooting spree is linked to an attack in central Afyonkarahisar earlier this week.
BREAKING: Gunman kills 8 people, including 2 TEACHERS, in a shotgun rampage across villages in western Turkey's Afyonkarahisar province. > Victims were shot inside vehicles in the İhsaniye district; at least 1 more person was seriously wounded > Suspect Arif Sefa Özdemir, 30, fled in a stolen vehicle and was captured in Eskişehir after police shot out his tires; he fired back, lightly wounding a gendarme, Turkish media say > Security camera shows him stepping out of a red van with a shotgun 🎥 @eonderciftci / DHA Per BBC, DHA, NTV
— James Reichert (@_jamesreichert) November 5, 2026
Sevgi Postalcı was seriously injured after being shot while sitting in her car near her home by unknown persons, DHA news agency reported. She had just come back from hairdresser and was on her way to pick up her child from school when the shooting took place.
She was rushed to hospital and had surgery. Her condition was described as critical.
🚨 EIGHT PEOPLE DEAD. All because one man allegedly decided his anger was worth more than human lives. In Afyonkarahisar, Turkey, Arif Sefa Özdemir is accused of a horrifying shotgun killing spree that left eight people dead, including two female teachers, and a mother of three critically wounded. He allegedly lured victims with the words, “Come, let's settle this.” Settle what? A debt? By slaughtering human beings? What kind of moral coward picks up a shotgun and makes innocent people pay for his grievances? Eight people had families, dreams, and futures. He allegedly took all of that away in a matter of hours. When furious locals confronted him at the hospital, one question cut through the rage: “Doesn't your conscience hurt at all?” The anger is understandable. But justice must come through the courts, not another act of violence. If these allegations are confirmed, this is an act of monstrous cruelty that deserves the strongest punishment the law allows. No excuse. No sympathy for the brutality. No forgetting the victims. Eight lives. Eight families devastated. One atrocity that must never be minimized.
— Shuyi (@shuyihealing) November 6, 2026
Investigators are trying to determine whether the same attacker was behind both shootings. But police have not publicly said that there is a link between the earlier shooting and the subsequent killings.
Investigation continues as motive is unknown
The motive behind the attacks has not been officially determined yet. Investigators will look into how the suspect moved, in what order the shootings were carried out and whether there are any links between victims and attacker.
Afyonkarahisar Chief Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation and prosecutors were assigned to examine the case.
The incident has shocked communities in the region as several of the victims were reportedly being targeted while travelling in vehicles.
Eight people are dead and one person is seriously injured so investigators are still trying to figure out what happened, why the attacks took place and whether the earlier shooting was part of the same sequence of violence.
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