Thai teenager kills grandparents, then five at school before suicide

A 14-year-old boy killed his grandparents at dawn on Friday before embarking on a deadly shooting spree at his school, resulting in five additional deaths and 23 injuries. The teenager then turned the gun on himself, ending Thailand's most violent mass shooting incident since 2022.

Police Colonel Thadsakorn Konthong, superintendent of Bang Bua Thong Police Station, confirmed that the boy fatally shot his relatives at approximately 5 a.m. local time. The firearm and ammunition used in the attack belonged to the grandfather, and initial inspections indicated the weapon had been searched for within the grandfather's bedroom. The trio resided together in a house on the outskirts of Bangkok.

After the initial killings, the teenager boarded a school van to his school, Debsirin Nonthaburi, located about 18 km away. He carried the firearm and numerous bullets with him. His first class began at 8:30 a.m., followed by another at 9:20 a.m. Police estimate that about half an hour into his second class, the boy drew his weapon and began shooting.

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The firearm and the bullets belonged to the grandfather. An initial inspection found signs that the firearm had been searched for inside the grandfather's bedroom.

According to Police Major General Dejrapee Kongdee, commander of the Nonthaburi Provincial Police, the teenager is believed to have first targeted teachers on the sixth floor, killing three. One victim was a female Thai language teacher shot in the eye. The gunman then proceeded downstairs, fatally shooting the school's deputy director and the director's secretary on the staircase as they investigated the commotion.

As the shooting unfolded, students initially mistook the gunfire for fireworks before being instructed to evacuate by a teacher. Some students fled in bare feet, clutching papers and phones, while others hid under desks, weeping. A red and white Nazi flag, reportedly belonging to the teenager's uncle, was observed flying in the yard of the family home. The whereabouts of the boy's parents remain unclear.

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He then walked down the stairs and encountered the school's deputy director and the director's secretary, who were going up the stairs to check on the situation. The attacker shot and killed both of them on the staircase.