Turkey manhunt ends after shooter kills six and takes his own life

A large-scale search for a gunman who killed six people in southern Turkey was called off early Tuesday when the suspect shot himself after police cornered him, the IHA news agency reported.

The 37‑year‑old suspect fled into a forested area after a shooting spree near Tarsus, a town situated between the southern cities of Mersin and Adana. He killed six people and wounded eight others.

The Anadolu state news agency said the man had reportedly shot his ex‑wife before beginning the violent rampage.

According to the DHA and IHA, the suspect opened fire in a restaurant, killing its owner and an employee. He then fled and shot dead two additional men—a shepherd watching his animals nearby and a truck driver at a petrol station.

The identity of the sixth victim has not been disclosed.

Police launched a massive manhunt involving helicopters. The search continued into the early hours of Tuesday, when the suspect was located inside a house about 10 kilometres from the initial shootings.

He turned the gun on himself to avoid capture, the IHA said.

Mehmet Han Topal, who works at the restaurant where the shootings began and was wounded in the leg, spoke to the agency from his hospital bed. He described the events: “He came in without a word… We thought he was getting his telephone out, but he brought out a pistol.” He added, “I got down. He fired at me.”

A statement posted overnight on X by the Mersin governor’s office said the incident began just before 2:00 pm (1100 GMT) and described the suspect as having “multiple hospital admissions due to prohibited substance dependency and various psychiatric diagnoses.”

The violence occurred a month after two teenage shooting attacks in Turkey, one of which injured 16 people and the other that claimed 10 lives, most of them young schoolchildren.

A Turkish NGO reports that tens of millions of firearms are held by citizens, most of them without permits.

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