Eight girls were stabbed at a middle school in Istanbul’s Başakşehir district on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, by a 15-year-old who walked into the schoolyard wearing the school’s uniform and attacked pupils at random. Hours later, Turkish Education Minister Yusuf Tekin confirmed that one of them had died.
The girl had been seriously wounded in the attack. “One of our students lost their life in the incident in Başakşehir,” Tekin said.
The stabbings began at around 8:40 a.m. local time (0540 GMT) at Kayaşehir Sheikh Shamil Imam Hatip Middle School, in the Kayabaşı neighborhood. Every one of the eight wounded was a girl, and the injured pupils were aged between 10 and 13, according to local reports.
A Uniform That Opened the Gate
Police identified the suspect as F.M., a 15-year-old female 10th grader who is enrolled at a different school.
“She entered the premises wearing school uniform and stabbed the children indiscriminately,” Istanbul Gov. Davut Gül told reporters, adding that the attacker attends a different school from the one she entered.
Security staff at the school grabbed the girl and handed her to police, who detained her. She is a female student born in 2011 who attends a high school in Istanbul’s Küçükçekmece district, and she came to the middle school in the Kayabaşı neighborhood where she lives. Cemil Özgür Önegi, the Başakşehir district governor, confirmed that a high school student carried out the attack.
One Dead, Seven Still Being Treated
Officers and medical crews reached the school after the first reports, and ambulances took the wounded to nearby hospitals. In a statement posted on X, the Interior Ministry said one of the students being treated died despite efforts to save her, and that the seven other wounded students were still receiving care. Earlier on Oct. 6, Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu had said of the eight wounded that there was “one in critical condition and two in moderate-to-serious condition,” according to reports.
Gül and Istanbul Police Chief Selami Yıldız went to Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital to see the injured and were briefed on their conditions. The governor told reporters afterward that five of the students had minor injuries and were expected to finish treatment during the day, while two others remained under care and were showing signs of improvement. One child was undergoing surgery, he said.
Classes Halted and a Court Steps In
The school called off classes for Tuesday, Oct. 6, and Wednesday, Oct. 7. An Istanbul court imposed a broadcast ban on coverage of the attack.
School violence had already been worrying the country before this week. A teenager opened fire outside a school in western Turkey in September 2026, wounding 11 pupils, three of them seriously, and was arrested. In April 2026, teenagers carried out two shooting attacks on consecutive days in southern Turkey, drawing shock and public concern about security in schools.
What Authorities Have Said so Far
By the account of officials, the attacker struck indiscriminately in the schoolyard, going after the children she came across rather than singling anyone out. Pressed on the case at the hospital, Gül said the matter now rests with the legal system.
The suspect remained in custody after her detention.
