Gunman Kills Eight in Three Turkish Villages, Suspect Caught

Eight people were killed and one was seriously injured on Thursday, November 5, 2026, when a gunman armed with a pump-action shotgun attacked people in three villages in Afyonkarahisar province in western Turkey, the provincial governor's office said. The suspect fled into a neighbouring province and was captured alive in Eskisehir, officials said.

Three people were found shot dead near Ayazini village and three more near Kiyir village, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. In Yukaritandir village, two women were found wounded and were taken to hospital, where they later died. The provincial education directorate named the two women as Ayse Sena Demir and Hilal Mete, teachers at Ihsaniye Yukaritandir Secondary School.

Manhunt across two provinces

After the attacks in Ihsaniye district, the gunman crossed into Eskisehir province. Daily Sabah reported that he seized a vehicle at gunpoint in the Kirka area of Seyitgazi district. Acting on tips from residents, gendarmerie teams found a vehicle linked to the suspect stuck in mud in the Taslik area, with a pump-action shotgun and a large amount of ammunition inside, according to reports.

The Eskisehir governor's office said the attacker was captured alive inside the province in a joint operation by gendarmerie and police teams. Turkish media named the suspect as Arif Sefa Ozdemir, 30, a farmer from the Ihsaniye area. Authorities in Afyonkarahisar had not publicly identified him in their first statements. He was taken for a health check in Eskisehir and then handed over to teams from Afyonkarahisar, Turkish media reported.

Investigation and a broadcast ban

The Afyonkarahisar governor's office confirmed the toll of eight dead and one seriously injured and said state institutions were coordinating the investigation. The chief public prosecutor's office opened an investigation and assigned a deputy chief prosecutor and three prosecutors to the case. A court in Afyonkarahisar imposed a broadcast ban on coverage of the investigation, Turkish media reported.

Officials gave no motive for the attacks. Six of the victims had been buried after funerals by Friday, November 6, 2026, according to Turkish reporting. The seriously injured person remained in hospital.

Victims were found in several locations and in three separate vehicles, the BBC reported, citing local reports. During the search, police and gendarmerie units set up roadblocks across the two provinces. The provincial education directorate expressed condolences to the families of the two teachers and to the wider teaching community.