A former police officer armed with a handgun and knife attacked a child-care facility in northeastern Thailand, killing at least 37 people, most of them children, in the deadliest mass shooting in the Southeast Asian country.
The attacker then shot and killed himself, his wife, and their 4-year-old child, according to Thai officials.
Police identified the suspect as 34-year-old former police officer Panya Kamrap who was sacked from the force in June for drug use.
At least 22 children were among the dead in the mass killing in the town of Uthai Sawan in Thailand’s northeastern province of Nong Bua Lamphu on Thursday. One of the youngest survivors is a 3-year-old boy.
Photos taken by first responders showed the school’s floor filled with the tiny bodies of children still on their blankets, where they had been taking an afternoon nap. The images showed pools of blood and gunshots to their heads.
A teacher told Thai PBS public broadcaster that the assailant got out of a car and immediately started shooting. “I ran to the back, the children were asleep,” said the young woman, who did not give her name. “The children were two or three years old.”
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha described the incident as a “shocking incident”. He has ordered the police chief to travel to the scene immediately to take necessary actions and provide immediate relief to all affected people.
Thai government has also said it would provide financial aid to the victims’ families to help cover funeral expenses and medical treatment. Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan will travel to Uthai Sawan and meet the affected families.
In a Facebook post, Thai police chief General Dumrongsak Kittiprapas said the attacker, who had been a sergeant, was due in court Friday for a hearing in the case involving methamphetamine.
Dumrongsak told reporters that the main weapon used was a 9mm pistol but he also had a shotgun and a knife.