Testimony of İsa Aras Mersinli's father revealed: They went to a shooting range before the incident!

Uğur Mersinli, the police officer father of 8th-grade student İsa Aras Mersinli, who carried out the attack at Ayser Çalık Secondary School in the Onikişubat district of Kahramanmaraş that resulted in the deaths of 10 people, including 9 children, has been arrested following his detention.

Within the scope of the investigation, the testimony given by Uğur Mersinli to the police has also come to light.

"THEY SAID MY SON WAS VERY INTELLIGENT"

According to the report in Yeni Şafak, the father stated that his son had been experiencing psychological problems for some time and said the following:

"My son has typical adolescent and exam-related problems and stresses. I took my son to psychologist friends at the police department due to this situation, but the psychologists at the police department said there was no negative situation and that my son was very intelligent. For about 2 months, I had been taking my son to a private specialist psychologist near our home; the psychologist in question said that my son would have problems with social adaptation and that he should be monitored, and that psychiatric treatment might be required in the future," he stated.

"I REALIZED HE HAD AN INTEREST IN WEAPONS"

Stating that his son had an interest in weapons, Uğur M. noted that he followed a different method to control this interest and said the following:

"About a month ago, he asked me when I would let him shoot with a gun, as his friends had done. Also, about a month ago, I came home from work and left my gun on the dresser in the bedroom for a short time; I saw my son attempting to pick up the gun and I scolded him. Because I realized he had an interest in weapons, I talked to him about our gun culture and mentioned that a weapon is considered a matter of honor. I also told him that I would leave one of my guns to him when I retired; my intention in saying this was to delay his enthusiasm for weapons. I gave him hope by saying, 'If your record is clean and you do well in school, we can buy you a gun too,' but upon this, my son told me that everyone in America can buy guns. I told him who can own and carry a gun in our country. My son said that his friends shoot with guns and that I should let him shoot with a gun; this conversation may have taken place last Thursday or Friday."

THEY WENT TO THE SHOOTING RANGE BEFORE THE INCIDENT

The father also stated that they went to a shooting range with his son shortly before the incident:

"On Monday, we went to the police shooting range and I fired with my own gun, and I also let my son fire a few rounds. I showed my son the target in front of us and told him that a weapon should not be used randomly and that one should aim before firing. I took a few photos and videos of my son while he was shooting; my intention was for them to remain as a memento and to dampen his enthusiasm. I later sent the photos to my son İsa via WhatsApp."

"WHEN I WENT TO HIS ROOM, HE WOULD CLOSE EVERYTHING; HE DIDN'T WANT TO SHOW US ANYTHING"

Touching upon his son's internet usage in his testimony, Uğur M. noted the following:

"My son played interactive (online) games, and when I entered his room, he would close everything and did not want to show us anything; for this reason, we had not been able to detect any negative situation until now."

News Source: 12punto