37 Including 24 Children Killed in Mass Shooting in Thailand
NEW DELHI, Oct 6: In one of the worst mass shooting tragedies, 37 people including 24 innocent children were killed before the shooter committed suicide in Uthai Sawan town in the north-eastern province of Nong Bua Lamphu, around 500 kilometres from Bangkok, in Thailand on Thursday.
The shooter, a former policeman, ravaged a day-care centre killing 34 people, including a two year old child, then went home and killed his wife and two children before he turned the gun killing himself.
Police identified the attacker as a former member of the force who was dismissed from his post last year over drug allegations. The man had been facing trial on drugs charge and had been in court in the hours before the shooting, a police spokesperson said.
He had come to collect his child from the day-care centre but opened fire when he did not find the child there, the spokesperson said. At least 37 people were killed in the attack, according to police spokesman Archayon Kraithong. Another 12 people were wounded. At least 24 of the dead were children, mostly pre-schoolers.
District police official Chakkraphat Wichitvaidya cited witnesses as saying the gunman was also seen wielding a knife in the attack. Paisal Luesomboon, a police spokesperson, also quoted witnesses having seen the attacker use a knife and a gun. “He started shooting, slashing, killing children at the Utai Sawan day-care centre,” Paisal said.
About 30 children were at the facility when the attacker arrived, fewer than usual, as heavy rain had kept many people away, district official Jidapa Boonsom, who was working in a nearby office at the time, said. “The shooter came in around lunch time and shot four or five officials at the childcare centre first,” said Jidapa. At first people thought the shots were fireworks, she said. “It’s really shocking. We were very scared and running to hide once we knew it was shooting. So many children got killed, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The attacker forced his way into a locked room where children were sleeping, Jidapa said. She said she thought he killed children there with a knife, adding that a teacher who was eight months pregnant was also killed with a knife. Videos posted on social media showed sheets covering what appeared to be the bodies of children lying in pools of blood.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, in a statement on Facebook, called the shooting a “shocking incident.” “I have ordered the police chief to travel to the scene immediately to take necessary actions and all involved parties to provide immediate relief to all affected people,” he said in the statement. Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan will travel to Uthai Sawan to visit the scene on Thursday, his office said.
By afternoon, officials stood guarding the front entrance to the day-care centre, a pink, one-storey building surrounded by a lawn and small palm trees. In a gazebo nearby, anxious-looking people gathered, waiting mostly in silence for news. One woman could be heard weeping.
“He (attacker) was already stressed and when he couldn’t find his child he was more stressed and started shooting,” police spokesperson Paisal said adding that he had then driven home and killed his wife and child there before taking his own life.
Gun laws are strict in Thailand, where possession of an illegal firearm carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. But ownership is high compared with some other countries in Southeast Asia. Illegal weapons, many brought in from strife-torn neighbouring countries, are common. However, mass shootings are rare. In 2020, a soldier angry over a property deal gone sour killed at least 29 people and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned four locations.
(Manas Dasgupta)
