(Bangkok) A former policeman armed with a gun and a knife killed 35 people, including 22 children, at a daycare center in Thailand on Thursday, before killing his family and killing himself, in one of the worst massacres the kingdom has ever seen.
Posted at 6:17 am.
Updated at 6:54 am
A new report from police in Nong Bua Lamphu province says 23 children died at the nursery.
Another 12 people were injured, three of them seriously, said police colonel Jakkapat Vijitraithaya.
The country’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha has ordered an investigation into the “horrific” massacre, he wrote on his Facebook account.
The chief said to the Inspector General of Police, “Go there and speed up the investigations. »
The 34-year-old gunman, armed with a rifle, a handgun and a knife, opened fire at a daycare center in Nha Klang, in the north of the country, around 12:30 p.m. local time (2:30 a.m. Montreal time). , narrated by Mr. Vijitraithaya.
He then fled in a car, killing several passers-by before killing his wife and children. He took his own life and the carnage ended.
“He was trying to hit other people on the road. Two people were injured when he hit the motorcycle. I rushed,” one witness, 31-year-old Pavina Purichan, who was riding her motorcycle to her shop, told AFP. “There was blood everywhere,” she said.
A police press conference will be held at 6 pm local time.
The shooter, Banya Kamrab, was demoted from the rank of lieutenant colonel last year due to drug problems.
Twenty-nine deaths in 2020
The first report by the authorities was “at least 20 dead” and many injured, gradually increasing.
Thailand is one of the countries with the highest arms circulation in the world.
In February 2020, an army officer opened fire at a shopping center in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, killing 29 people.
The shooter, a 31-year-old chief warrant officer, was shot and killed by law enforcement after his nearly 17-hour killing spree. He acted after an argument with his superior.
“This is unprecedented in Thailand and I want this to be the last time a crisis like this happens,” said Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, while still in office.
A Royal Army sergeant major was also behind a shooting that killed two officers at a military base in Bangkok in September.
“I am shocked by the horrific events in Thailand. My thoughts are with the victims and rescuers,” British Prime Minister Liz Truss tweeted.
