Blue Whale Online Suicide Challenge: 14-Year-Old Boy Shoots Parents To Death Then Kills Himself

A 14-year-old boy in Northern Cyprus has shot both his parents to death before taking his own life. The shooting reportedly took place at around 3.30 am on Friday at the family’s residence in the town of Lefkoniko where police found two empty gun cartridges and a gun inside the house.

According to reports, the youngest son, 14-year-old boy Cinar Cobanoglu, had allegedly carried out the killings by shooting both his parents while they were asleep.

The neighbors came to learn of the incident when the couple’s eldest son Eralp Cobanoglu,18, ran to their house to hide. He told the neighbors that his brother had “gone berserk”.

In a story published in The Sun, one of the neighbours said:

“We woke up at three in the morning with a violent knock on our door. The older child came to us and said, 'Run, save me, Cınar fired. Run, look, I think he did something to himself.’ We did not hear any gunshots...I found the boy sitting in blood.“

"I called the ambulance and the police. We put the child in the ambulance saying maybe you can save him”, the neighbor added.

The neighbors found the lifeless bodies of Ibrahim Cobanoglu, 52, and wife Bengu Cobanoglu, 48 on their bed while Cinar was on the ground critically injured.

Cinar was still alive when the ambulance arrived but despite the best efforts of the doctors to save him, he later died of his injuries at Burhan Nalbantoglu State Hospital.

Police are still investigating the shooting with reports saying that one angle of inquiry authorities are looking into is that the 14-year-old teenager shot his parents during an argument and then shot himself.

Cyprus Mail reported that there was a discussion at the home on Thursday noon over a video game. Cinar was playing and had pulled a knife at his older brother during the argument. Questions have also pointed at how Cinar learned to use the gun owned by his father.

Local media, however, have also tied the tragic deaths to a disturbing online suicide challenge called the “Blue Whale”.

The online challenge reportedly lures vulnerable minds into taking part in these types of challenges demanding the player to commit suicide. Turkish media reports say this has somehow become a dangerous online trend.

Turkish police confirmed it is still too early to comment on this angle of allegations however much it has been widely printed on Turkish media.