A 14-year-old student, Isa Aras Mersinli, who carried out one of the deadliest school shootings in modern Turkish history earlier this week, killing 10 people and seriously injuring 16 others, has been identified as a non-binary LGBT individual previously flagged as a “problem” student.
Isa Aras Mersinli carried out an attack on April 15 at the Ayser Çalık Secondary School in the Onikişubat district of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, which killed nine students and one teacher.
The shooter was identified as a non-binary male student who used “she/her/it” pronouns, and reportedly preferred to be referred to as “Konata” – a name of his alleged favourite female character from a Japanese anime series.
Events of the attack
The attack began at around 1:30pm local time, when the 14-year-old armed student entered the school premises with multiple firearms.
Reports from Turkish media indicate that he brought at least five guns and several loaded magazines, which he had stolen from his father, a local police chief inspector.
The shooting began in the outer schoolyard before Mersinli took his attack into the building, where he entered several classrooms and fired randomly at the students.
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At least ten people were killed, one of whom was a teacher, Ayla Kara, 55, who died whilst attempting to protect students in her maths class.
Over a dozen other students were injured, including six who are currently still in critical condition.
The aunt of one of the victims, Shura, said she had learned that her 10-year-old niece was killed when her name was read out on the news.
Another victim, Zeynep, also aged 10, was killed by Mersinli. Her uncle, Mahmut, said that she was a clever girl who respected others. “She is an angel now, she flew away,” he told the BBC.
Mersinli was tackled during the murderous act by staff and parents, and was stabbed during the altercation by Necmettin Bekci, the father of two children at the school.
Mersinli later died of blood loss at the scene.
Who was Isa Aras Mersinli?
Mersinli was previously flagged by the school system as being a “problem student,” according to Ejder, a guidance counsellor. The student allegedly had a long history of problematic incidents at the school.
“We were in constant contact with his family. He had a screen addiction. He did not want to come to school. Even when he came, he wanted to leave,” Ejder said.
According to statements from the attacker’s family, he had undergone psychological examinations and received support in prior months, with specialists stating that he had struggled with “social adaptations”, but nothing further was flagged.
Mersinli had allegedly written a manifesto under his preferred name, “Konata,” an ode to his favourite anime character, in which he said: “As of writing this, it is April 11th, 2026. By the time you are reading this, I am either planning to do something big, have done something big or am about to do something big.”
The manifesto was leaked by an individual claiming to be Mersinli’s online girlfriend, an individual located in Argentina who had censored some of it due to the apparent racial and sexual slurs it contained.
The girlfriend also made a TikTok video on her now-deleted account sharing more insight into their “polyamorous” relationship.
“It was a joke at the start. We never took it seriously. Konata always said, ‘oh, I’m going to do a school shooting, ha ha ha.’ And we would say, ‘guys, smile, we will be in a documentary soon,’” the girl says, using feminine pronouns to refer to Mersinli. “She was both my and Victor’s girlfriend; we were in a polyamorous relationship. When we found out what had happened, we all cried. Neither Victor nor I wanted Aras to do this. We told her many times, ‘Please don’t do it, it’s not worth it.’ Our other friends said the same.”
The “third” partner in the polyamorous relationship, referred to as Victor, also made a post about Mersinli, mourning his death.
“RIP Konata, why would you do such a thing. I loved you, I still do. I can’t even take off the cosplay you wanted me to do. Everything I eat tastes horrible. Why did you kill them? I hoped that you were kidding, you weren’t. I love you, my sweet girl. I’m sorry society failed you.”
Across Turkish social media, images and videos of Mersinli have begun to circulate, including ones of him in female clothing, such as skirts and blouses, and even one whilst wearing parts of his father’s police uniform.
Idolisation of other school shooters
Mersinli was also allegedly inspired by other school shooters, with the local prosecutor’s office saying that he had referenced US mass killer Elliot Rodger in a photo on his WhatsApp profile.
Rodger murdered six people in California in 2014 before taking his own life.
“During the examination of digital materials, a document dated April 11, 2026, was found on the suspect’s computer indicating that he intended to carry out a major operation in the near future,” the local prosecutor’s office said.
Two school shootings in one week
The deadly school shooting took place merely two days after a separate attack of a similar nature in Siverek, Şanlıurfa Province, where a 19-year-old man opened fire on students, injuring 16 before committing suicide.
95 people have since been detained in connection with the Şanlıurfa attack for expressing concerning online behaviour following the attacks, according to Justice Minister Akin Gurlek.
A further 67 people were also taken into custody after being accused of sharing posts that indicated they would carry out attacks at other schools. Over 1,104 social media accounts were restricted in connection with this.
The attacks, not believed to be connected, shocked Turkey. School shootings are rare in the country and had never been recorded with such frequency in the past.
