Ex-Thai cop kills at least 38, including 22 children, in daycare shooting

BANGKOK – A former policeman killed 38people, including 22 children, in a gun rampage at a daycare centre in eastern Thailand on Thursday, later shooting dead his wife and child at their home before turning his weapon on himself, police said.

Police identified the attacker as Panya Kamrab, 34, a former member of the force who was dismissed from his post in 2021 over drug allegations. He was facing trial on a drugs charge and had been in court in the hours before the shooting.

Police Colonel Jakkapat Vijitraithaya said Panyawas believed to be under the influence of drugs.

Some of the 22 children he killed were as young as two years old.

District police official Chakkraphat Wichitvaidya said witnesses saw the suspect also wielding a knife,in the attack in the town of Uthai Sawan, 500kmnorth-east of Bangkok in the province of Nong Bua Lamphu. Remote video URL About 30 children were at the centre fewer than usual because of heavy rains earlier in the day when Panya came in at around lunchtime, district official Jidapa Boonsom, who was working at a nearby office at the time, told Reuters.

The shooter came in around lunchtime and shot four or five officials at the childcare centre first, said Ms Jidapa, adding that among them was a teacher who was eight months pregnant.

At first peoplethought it was fireworks, she said. Its really shocking. We were very scared and running to hide once we knew it was shooting. So many children got killed, Ive never seen anything like it.

Panya then forced his way into a locked room where children were sleeping, Ms Jidapa said, to kill the children there with a knife.

Videos posted on social media showed sheets covering what appeared to be the bodies of children lying in pools of blood at the centre in the town of Uthai Sawan in the north-eastern province of Nong Bua Lamphu.

Reuters could not immediately authenticate the footage.

At least 12 people were injured in addition to thecasualties, police said. Embed Twitter Tweet URL Police spokesperson PaisalLuesomboon told broadcaster ThaiPBS Panyahad been at a court hearing in connection with a drug case earlier on Thursday and had gone to the daycare centre to find his child, but the child was not there.

He was already stressed and when he couldnt find his child… hestarted shooting, slashing, killing children, Mr Paisalsaid.

He then drove home and killed his wife and child there before taking his own life. Officials guarding the front entrance to the daycare centre. PHOTO: REUTERS The shooting was a shocking incident, Prime Minister PrayutChan-o-cha said, as he sent condolences to the families of the victims.

On his Facebook page, Mr Prayutordered all agencies to urgently treat the wounded.

Authorities ordered the closure of all daycare centres in the area, Bloomberg reported.

By afternoon, officials stood guarding the front entrance to the daycare centre, a pink, one-storey building surrounded by a lawn and small palm trees.

In a gazebo nearby, anxious-looking people gathered, waiting mostly in silence for news. One woman could be heard weeping. People gathering outside the daycare centre's scene of a mass shooting. PHOTO: REUTERS The rate of gun ownership in Thailand is high compared with that in some other countries in the region, but official figures do not include huge numbers of illegal weapons, many of which have been brought in across porous borders over the years from strife-torn neighbours.

Gun laws are strict in Thailand, where possession of an illegal firearm carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

But ownership is high compared with some other countries in South-east Asia. Illegal weapons, many brought in from strife-torn neighbouring countries, are common.

Police said, however, that the gun used in the shooting had been obtained legally.

Mass shootings are rare but in 2020, a soldier angry over a property deal gone sour killed at least 29 people and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned four locations.REUTERS Here is a look at some of the past mass killings in the kingdom:

Sept 14, 2022: Yongyuth Mungkornkim, a clerk at the Royal Thai Army War College, kills two people and wounds one other in a shooting at a military facility in Bangkok.

The 59-year-old tries to flee the scene but surrenders himself later.

The man is thought to have suffered mental health problems following brain surgery after a motorbike accident.

Feb 8-9, 2020: A 32-year-old soldier, Jakrapanth Thomma, goes on a killing spree after feeling upset that he is denied a pre-agreed commission over a land purchase that involves a senior officer and his relative.

Using personal weapons bought under an army welfare scheme, Jakrapanth kills both of them. SPH Brightcove Video A soldier angry over a property deal killed dozens in a rampage in northeastern Thailand, before being shot dead on Sunday morning. More On This Topic Singaporean was just metres away from Thai gunman, could smell the discharge as he shot victims Guns and social media: The soldier behind Thailand's mass shooting He later breaks into the armoury of a military camp in the northeastern city of Nakhon Ratchasima in Isan and makes off with automatic weapons and 700 rounds of ammunition that he uses for a carnage at the Terminal 21 shopping mall in an overnight siege.

His rampage leaves 29 people dead and 58 injured.

Jan 1, 2019: A Thai man who feels slighted by his in-laws shoots dead six family members including his two young children, aged nine and six, at a New Year’s Eve party in the southern province of Chumphon.

Just 10 minutes after midnight, a heavily drunk Sucheep Sornsung joins his wife’s family to ring in the New Year when he pulls out his pistol and shoots his victims either in the head or the torso, before turning the gun on himself. REUTERS, AFP More On This Topic Ex-soldier opens fire in Thai Covid-19 field hospital, kills one patient Gunman opens fire in Bangkok and surrenders after six hours, no injuries reported