Autopsy report released on Kahramanmaraş school attacker İsa Aras Mersinli
The autopsy findings for İsa Aras Mersinli, who carried out the deadly armed attack at Ayser Çalık Middle School in Kahramanmaraş, have been made public. The report concludes that Mersinli died as a result of a deep cut to his leg that caused a major vascular injury and massive external bleeding.
According to the document, forensic experts evaluated that his death was not caused by a gunshot wound, but by trauma from a sharp or piercing object that severed a large blood vessel in his leg, leading to rapid blood loss.
The attack took place on Wednesday at Ayser Çalık Middle School in the Haydarbey neighborhood of the central Onikişubat district. Using five firearms registered to his father, police chief inspector Uğur Mersinli, the assailant opened fire inside the school. The assault left one teacher and eight students dead, plunging the city and the country into mourning.
The autopsy report also includes the statement of guidance counselor and teacher Ejder İ., who was called upon to identify the attacker’s body. He stated that he had known İsa Aras Mersinli since the 5th grade and had been his guidance counselor for years.
In his statement, Ejder İ. underlined that the student had serious problems with screen addiction, saying, “He was addicted to screens. He did not want to come to school. When he did come, he constantly wanted to leave.” The teacher noted that they had been in regular contact with the family about these issues and had tried to intervene.
Describing the moments of the attack, the guidance counselor said he was inside the school when the incident began: “At the time of the incident, I was at school. I was upstairs, trying to maintain order in the classrooms on the upper floors. Suddenly, I heard a ‘tak tak’ noise. As soon as I heard it, I went downstairs. I tried to locate where the sound was coming from. It kept repeating.”
He explained that initial confusion led some to think it was an electrical malfunction: “When I saw a child lying on the floor in front of the restroom and heard a few students say, ‘The transformer exploded,’ I also thought there had been an electrical fault. I went to switch off the transformer and did so. Then I went back upstairs.”
By the time he returned to the upper floor, the gunfire had stopped: “At that moment, the sound had ceased. Next to me were our teachers Ramazan and Ferhat, as well as a few people we did not know. İsa was walking toward us. When he approached, there was nothing in his hands, no gun visible.”
The teacher said they immediately moved to restrain the attacker: “All of us together subdued him. We forced him to the ground. As we did so, a magazine fell to the floor from his person. At that point, I left the scene and went to check on the other students and the wounded.”
He then focused on helping the victims: “I placed two injured students into an ambulance. When the attacker was apprehended, there were about 40-50 people in the area. When I came back down with the wounded student, there was a knife with a wooden handle lying right next to İsa. I don’t know what happened after that.”
The autopsy report’s conclusion that the cause of death was a leg wound from a sharp or piercing object aligns with this scene description, suggesting that the knife found beside him may have been involved in the trauma that led to his fatal bleeding. The report emphasizes that the cut caused a large-vessel injury, triggering massive external hemorrhage.
Among the victims of the attack was student Şuranur Sevgi Kazıcı, whose funeral has already been held. She was laid to rest in an emotional ceremony, with her family, classmates, teachers, and local residents bidding farewell in deep sorrow. The funeral turned into a collective expression of anger, pain, and calls for accountability.
The fact that the attacker used multiple firearms belonging to his father, a senior police inspector, has sparked intense debate about gun storage and control in homes where law enforcement officers live. How these weapons were accessed by a minor and transported into a school building without being noticed is now a central question in the ongoing investigation.
The profile of the attacker, as described by his guidance counselor, is also prompting renewed discussion about early warning signs in students. Longstanding school avoidance, isolation, and serious screen addiction had been noted by the school and shared with the family. Educators had repeatedly met with the parents in an effort to address his behavioral and psychological difficulties.
Experts commenting on similar cases often highlight that prolonged screen addiction and social withdrawal can be both symptoms and accelerators of deeper mental health problems. Excessive gaming, online violence, or exposure to extremist or harmful content can further distort a young person’s perception of reality and reduce their tolerance for frustration, though this does not explain or justify an attack of this scale.
The tragedy has amplified calls for stronger mental health support in schools, especially for students who show persistent behavioral problems, detachment from classmates, or resistance to attending classes. Guidance counselors and psychologists are urging for smaller caseloads, mandatory early-intervention protocols, and closer cooperation between schools and families when warning signs appear.
Security measures in schools are also under scrutiny. Questions are being asked about entry controls, the presence or absence of security personnel, and staff preparedness for emergency situations involving armed individuals. Teachers and administrators who rushed to confront and restrain the attacker have been described as acting with great courage under extreme pressure, yet many argue that they should never have been placed in such a position without proper training and safeguards.
The case further raises ethical and professional questions about gun safety in the homes of law enforcement officers. Secure storage, separate placement of weapons and ammunition, and regular checks are emerging as urgent topics. Advocates stress that professional training in weapons does not eliminate the risk posed when firearms are kept accessible in a domestic setting with children or adolescents.
For families and students at Ayser Çalık Middle School, the trauma will not end with the conclusion of forensic reports or legal inquiries. Many survivors will need long-term psychological support to cope with grief, survivor’s guilt, recurring fear, and difficulty returning to a classroom environment that now feels unsafe.
Authorities are expected to continue their investigation not only into the chronology of the attack and the exact circumstances of the attacker’s death, but also into potential administrative or security shortcomings that may have contributed to the scale of the tragedy. The autopsy report on İsa Aras Mersinli, with its detailed account of the fatal leg wound and heavy blood loss, is one crucial piece in a much larger puzzle that includes psychological, social, and institutional factors.
As the city mourns the teacher and eight students who lost their lives, the focus is increasingly shifting from the individual attacker to the broader questions: what signs might have been missed, how similar incidents can be prevented in the future, and what kind of systemic changes in education, mental health care, and gun safety are necessary to protect children in their own schools.