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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Culture & Society

Thai Teen Kills Grandparents, Five Staff in School Shooting Spree

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • A 14-year-old male teenager killed seven people, including his grandparents and five school staff, in a shooting spree in Thailand.
  • The incident occurred at Debsirin Nonthaburi School near Bangkok, where the gunman used his grandfather's weapon.
  • Authorities noted the teenager suffered from study-related stress, and he died by suicide at the scene.

A 14-year-old male teenager carried out a deadly shooting spree in Thailand on Friday, killing at least seven people, including his grandparents and five staff members at Debsirin Nonthaburi School on the northwestern outskirts of Bangkok. The gunman fired at least 26 bullets from a firearm belonging to his grandfather.

This is terrible for something like this to happen. I’m sad for those who died and sad for something like this to happen in our country.

— Anutin CharnvirakulThe Prime Minister of Thailand reacted to the shooting, expressing grief over the loss of life and the incident occurring in the country.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul expressed deep sadness over the tragedy, noting the gunman's struggles with stress related to his studies. Police discovered the bodies of the grandparents at their home. One student described hearing multiple gunshots, initially mistaking them for firecrackers before the shooting began.

I didn’t think it was a gun at first. There ​were many shots: bang, bang, bang. Then it went quiet. Then it started again.

— Unnamed studentAn 18-year-old student at the school described the initial moments of the shooting, mistaking the sounds for firecrackers.

The incident marks another mass shooting in Thailand, a country with a high rate of civilian gun possession in Southeast Asia, estimated at 40%. This is the second school shooting in Thailand this year; a teacher was killed and a student injured in February.

We rushed up and found that the perpetrator had shot himself in the right side of the head and collapsed. When we got up there, we checked his pulse, he still had one, so we started CPR.

— Kiatikhun VerapongpradithAn emergency worker described finding the gunman after he had shot himself and the initial medical response.

Emergency responders found the perpetrator had shot himself in the head. CPR was initiated, but he did not survive. At the school, first responders treated injured students and found a dead teacher on an upper floor, along with another wounded teacher. A seventh-grader recounted her escape, describing how the gunman appeared and shot a teacher while she was nearby. She managed to climb over a school fence to flee with friends.

She was talking to me when [the gunman] showed up and shot her. I couldn’t see anything but a [cloud] of dust. I had to climb over the school fence to escape with other friends.

— Unnamed seventh-graderA student recounted her harrowing escape from the school shooting, describing the moment the gunman appeared and attacked a teacher.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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