Thailand: A gunman stormed into a school in Thailand, reportedly opened fire, and took hostage several students and teachers on Wednesday. The incident took place at Patong Prathan Khiriwat School in Thailand’s Tambon Patong. According to local media reports, the gunman opened fire with a machine gun, injuring at least three people including teachers and students before taking them hostage for around two hours in Songkhla province, near the border with Malaysia.
During the security operation, the police wounded the assailant in a gunbattle at the school in Songkhla province before taking him into custody to end the standoff, the provincial government said in a statement.
The attack took place in the late afternoon shortly after classes were dismissed. The school’s director was severely wounded by gunshots in the attack, and a student also was injured by gunshots, while another student was injured while jumping off a building trying to flee the scene, the government said.
The suspect was identified by local officials as a 17-year-old with a history of drug abuse and mental health problem. Officials were still investigating the motive for the attack.
According to reports, one teacher (may be the director) was reportedly shot by the attacker as police surrounded the site. Earlier, the Mae Taptim Yala Foundation reported on its Facebook page that Patong Prathan Khiriwat School was under attack by armed gunmen.
Thailand’s local media further reported that it was not yet clear as to how many people were injured but adding that a number of teachers and students were trapped inside the building.
Earlier, reports claimed that the cops in the Hat Yai district were attempting to negotiate with the gunman. A security guard at the school who somehow managed to escape the attack said that the gunman had shot the headmaster.
According to local media outlet The Nation, it quoted Deputy Superintendent Wichian Soboon saying that the perpetrator was captured while another cop confirmed that three people were injured in the incident, as per Reuters.
A Brief History of Thailand’s Gun Violence
Gun violence isn’t uncommon in Thailand, which has one of the highest rates of gun ownership and gun-related deaths in Asia, though mass shootings are rare.
Data collected in 2017 by the groups Small Arms Survey and GunPolicy.org. found that there were about 10.3 guns per 100 people in Thailand, compared with less than one per 100 in neighboring Malaysia. If illegal guns are added to the total, Thailand’s rate is 15.1.
In October 2022, a police sergeant who was fired from his job killed 36 people, including two dozen toddlers, at a day care center in the small northeastern town of Uthai Sawan. The shocking gun and knife attack spurred calls for tighter gun controls, though there have been no major reforms.
In February 2020, a disgruntled Thai soldier angry over a financial dispute with his commanding officer went on a shooting rampage in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima, killing 29 people and wounding dozens of others before police shot him dead after an overnight siege at a major shopping mall.
With inputs from AP
