A major campus shooting incident that occurred on Friday morning in Thailand has shocked society, resulting in a total of 9 deaths and over 30 injuries. The suspect is a 14-year-old male student. The authorities are currently investigating the motive behind the crime.
Although the official name of the shooter has not been released, reports indicate that he is a 14-year-old male student in the ninth grade at a school in Nonthaburi, Bangkok, Thailand. The shooter committed suicide during the police pursuit.
Deputy Minister of the Interior of Thailand, Polapee Suwanchawee, mentioned that the shooter was a video game enthusiast. A teacher at the school told the BBC that the boy was “an excellent student, a good kid,” and not known to engage in conflicts.
Thai authorities revealed that the 9mm handgun used in the campus shooting belonged to the suspect’s grandfather, who was also a teacher. The young shooter had killed his grandparents before going to school. The Minister of Public Health of Thailand stated that the elderly couple was found dead in their home, where the shooter also resided.
The police are still investigating the motive behind this large-scale shooting incident.
According to Thai official reports, around 10 am on Friday, the gunman fired 26 shots at the school, causing students to panic and flee. Upon hearing the gunshots, teachers immediately evacuated students into classrooms, locked the doors, turned off the lights, and instructed them to lie on the floor awaiting rescue.
A student told the BBC, “I was standing in front of the teacher when she was shot. She was talking to me when the shooter appeared and then shot at her. I couldn’t see anything, just a cloud of dust. He moved from one room to another. My desk was close to the teacher. I had to climb over the school fence with other friends to escape.”
Twelfth-grade student Pawarisa Maylissa told AFP, “I heard many gunshots, very loud because the suspect seemed to be on the floor above us. I could even hear the bullets hitting the floor.”
An 18-year-old student informed Reuters that at first, he thought it was firecrackers or someone hitting something. “I didn’t initially think it was gunshots,” he said. “The gunshots were continuous: bang, bang, bang. Then there was silence for a while. Then it started again.”
After receiving reports, the police sealed off the school and the gunman eventually committed suicide in a corner of a building, leaving behind the handgun and a large quantity of ammunition.
A rescue volunteer from the Shan Tang Foundation, Kiatikhun Verapongpradith, stated, “I saw that he used a 9mm handgun, and there were magazines and about 20-30 bullets left in his backpack, yes, those were the remaining bullets.”
The Thai Prime Minister mentioned that the gunman opened fire, resulting in the deaths of five teachers, making it the most severe campus shooting incident in Thailand in recent years. The police stated that at least one student died.
The shooting incident also left over 30 people injured, including students, as reported by the authorities.
Thailand has a higher per capita gun ownership rate than most countries in Southeast Asia, with gun homicides ranking second in the region. Following the shooting incident, the Prime Minister emphasized the need to strengthen gun control measures.
In recent years, Thailand has experienced several incidents of gun violence, including significant shootings in schools and public spaces.
– In February of this year, a school in southern Thailand experienced a hostage situation where an 18-year-old gunman shot and killed a principal and a female student.
– In July of last year, a shooting incident occurred at a market in Bangkok where a gunman shot and killed a total of 5 people, including security personnel and vendors, before taking his own life.
– The most severe shooting tragedy in recent years in Thailand happened in October 2022, where a former police officer went on a indiscriminate shooting spree for 3 hours at various locations, resulting in 36 deaths, including 22 children who were killed in a nursery while sleeping. The gunman then killed his wife and child before committing suicide. The police stated that the 34-year-old officer had been dismissed for illegal drug possession and had been facing financial, legal, and family issues for a long time.
– Prior to that, in February 2020, a disgruntled active-duty soldier in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand, went on a shooting rampage with an assault rifle, leading to 29 deaths and 57 injuries at four locations. Most of the casualties occurred in a shopping center, and the gunman was eventually shot by security forces.