At least eight people, including three students and three teachers, were killed after a teenage student opened fire at a secondary school near Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday.
The attack at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province triggered panic as students scrambled for safety, parents rushed to the school and emergency responders flooded the area.
Police said the suspect was a student at the school. Before arriving at the campus, he had allegedly killed his grandparents using his grandfather’s handgun.
The teenager was later reported dead, although accounts differed over how he died. Some reports said police shot him, while others said he died by suicide.
Fifteen other students were also injured while trying to escape the shooting, according to Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee.
The violence left students and staff traumatised as they sought safety inside the school.
Pawarisa Maylissa, a Grade 12 student who hopes to study medicine, said the sound of gunfire left her fearing for her life and her future.
“I was afraid that I would die, and I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to pursue my dreams,” she said.
“I heard many gunshots very loudly because it seemed the suspect was on the floor directly above us. I could even hear bullets hitting the floor.”
Parents gathered outside the school as police and emergency workers secured the area, while students comforted one another following the attack.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul expressed shock over the incident and questioned how such violence could occur in the country.
“It’s such a terrible incident. It should never have happened. How could this happen in our country?” he told reporters at Bangkok’s Government House.
Photos from the scene showed the suspect wearing a purple school uniform and carrying a black cross-body bag, with spent bullet casings visible nearby.
Mental health workers were also deployed to assist students and others affected by the attack.
Thailand’s Gun Violence Problem
The shooting has once again drawn attention to firearm access in Thailand, which has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region.
About 10 million firearms are estimated to be in circulation in the country, equivalent to roughly one gun for every seven people.
Previous efforts to strengthen gun controls have failed to prevent repeated shootings.
In February, a teenage suspect reportedly opened fire at a school in southern Thailand, killing the principal and injuring two students. He was accused of attacking a police officer, taking the officer’s 9mm pistol and using it during the shooting.
Thailand was also rocked in 2022 by one of its deadliest mass killings, when a former police officer armed with a gun and knife attacked a nursery in the north, killing 24 children and 12 adults.
Friday’s attack is expected to renew concerns over firearm access, school security and the safety of students and teachers across Thailand.
AFP
