4 killed, 8 injured in shooting near southern Turkish city of Mersin

Four people were killed and eight others injured after a gunman opened fire near the southern Turkish city of Mersin on Monday, according to local media reports.

News agencies DHA and IHA reported that at least two victims were shot dead inside a restaurant, while two others were killed at separate locations before the attacker fled the scene by car.

The shooting occurred north of Tarsus, about 40 kilometres northeast of Mersin, prompting a large-scale police manhunt involving helicopters, DHA said.

According to the agency, the suspected gunman was a 17-year-old armed with a shotgun.

The attack comes a month after two separate shootings carried out by teenagers in Turkey, one of which injured 16 people while the other killed 10, most of them schoolchildren.