BANGKOK
\nA teenage suspect killed his grandparents before shooting dead at least six more people at a school near Bangkok Friday, police said. First he shot dead his grandparents, using his grandfather\u2019s handgun, then went to a secondary school north of Bangkok and killed three teachers and three students, national police said in a statement.
\nDozens of police and emergency responders gathered outside the Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province on Friday, while parents raced to pick up their children and tearful students and staff comforted each other outside. \u201cI was afraid that I would die, and I was scared that I wouldn\u2019t be able to pursue my dreams,\u201d said Pawarisa Maylissa, a grade 12 student who hopes to attend medical school.
\n\u201cI heard many gunshots very loudly because it seemed the suspect was on the floor directly above us. I could even hear bullets hitting the floor.\u201d Fifteen injured students were not struck by gunfire but hurt as they were trying to flee, deputy interior minister Polapee Suwunchwee told local broadcaster Thai PBS.
\nThe shooter was identified as a teenage student of the school and also reported dead, according to local media reports citing authorities. \u2018How could this happen\u2019 Some reports said police officers had shot and killed the suspect, while others said he had died by suicide. \u201cIt\u2019s such a terrible incident. It should never have happened. How could this happen in our country?\u201d Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters at Bangkok\u2019s Government House.
\nPhotos published by local media show the suspect wearing a purple school uniform and carrying a black cross-body bag, with several bullet casings visible on the ground. A media journalist saw a dozen mental health workers arrive at the school, where traffic was nearly at a standstill.
\nThailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region, with around 10 million firearms estimated to be in circulation \u2014 one for every seven inhabitants. Past promises of tightening gun laws have not prevented repeated shootings. Thai police shot and arrested a teenager who opened fire at a school in the south of the country in February, killing the principal and wounding two students.
\nThe teen had used a police officer\u2019s weapon in the shooting. A local police chief said at the time that the suspect was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment in December and had been discharged.
\nThe teen stabbed a police officer with a knife and stole his weapon \u2014 a 9mm pistol \u2014 just before the incident, and then used it to carry out the attack.In 2022, an ex-policeman armed with a gun and a knife stormed into a nursery in the country\u2019s north and murdered 24 children and 12 adults, one of Thailand\u2019s deadliest massacres.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BANGKOK A teenage suspect killed his grandparents before shooting dead at least six more people at a school near Bangkok Friday, police said. First he shot dead his grandparents, using his grandfather\u2019s handgun, then went to a secondary school north of Bangkok and killed three teachers and three students, national police said in a statement. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-560749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n