At the least 23 kids killed in assault by ex-police officer who later shot useless his spouse and son earlier than turning his weapon on himself.
A former police officer opened fireplace at a daycare centre in Thailand killing a minimum of 35 individuals, principally kids, earlier than turning a weapon on his household after which himself.
The attacker – armed with a shotgun, pistol and a knife – started the killing spree in Nong Bua Lam Phu province at about 12:30pm (05:30 GMT) on Thursday earlier than fleeing the scene in a pick-up truck.
The useless included a minimum of 23 kids, mentioned police Colonel Jakkapat Vijitraithaya. The gunman pressured his manner right into a locked room the place kids had been sleeping on the time, based on a witness.
After the assault, the gunman went residence and killed his spouse and baby, Jakkapat mentioned.
The attacker was named as former police officer Panya Khamrab, 34, and Jakkapat mentioned he was dismissed from the pressure final yr for drug use.
Nanthicha Punchum, performing head of the nursery, described harrowing scenes because the attacker barged into the constructing.
“There have been some workers consuming lunch outdoors the nursery and the attacker parked his automobile and shot 4 of them useless,” she mentioned. “The shooter smashed down the door together with his leg after which got here inside and began slashing the kids’s heads with a knife.”
Video reveals the scene outdoors a kids’s daycare centre in northeast Thailand the place greater than 30 individuals, together with kids, have been killed in a mass taking pictures.
Police say the suspect fled the scene then shot himself and his household ⤵️
🔗: https://t.co/EmWYPp1n88pic.twitter.com/nfVYwPf1Aw
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The kids on the daycare centre in Uthai Sawan, a city 500km (310 miles) northeast of the capital Bangkok, had been principally stabbed to dying, police mentioned.
Footage after the assault confirmed distraught dad and mom weeping in a shelter outdoors the nursery, a yellow single-storey constructing set in a backyard.
‘Thought it was fireworks’
About 30 kids had been on the centre when the gunman entered at round lunchtime, district official Jidapa Boonsom mentioned.
The person first shot 4 or 5 workers, together with a trainer who was eight months pregnant, Jidapa mentioned. “At first individuals thought it was fireworks… It’s actually stunning. We had been very scared and operating to cover as soon as we knew it was a taking pictures. So many kids acquired killed, I’ve by no means seen something prefer it.”
Pictures confirmed a minimum of two our bodies on the ground of the centre coated in white sheets.
Witness Paweena Purichan, 31, was using her bike to her store when she encountered the fleeing assailant driving erratically. “He meant to crash into others on the street,” she mentioned.
“The attacker rammed a bike and two individuals had been injured. I sped off to get away from him. There was blood in every single place.”
![The Facebook page of Thailand's Central Investigation Bureau shows a picture of former policeman Panya Khamrab, who is believed to have killed at least 30 people in a nursery in the northern Thai province of Nong Bua Lam Phu. - At least 30 people are dead including many children [Thailand's Central Investigation Bureau/AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/000_32KT9LX-1.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C641)
Killed his spouse and baby
Police spokesperson Paisan Luesomboon informed broadcaster Thai PBS the gunman had been at a court docket listening to in reference to a drug case earlier on Thursday and had gone to the daycare to search out his personal baby, however the baby was not there.
“He was already burdened and when he couldn’t discover his baby he was extra burdened and began taking pictures,” Paisan mentioned, including he then drove residence and killed his spouse and baby there earlier than taking his personal life.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha ordered the nationwide police chief to “fast-track an investigation” and mentioned he would journey to the scene of the assault on Friday.
“This could not occur. This positively shouldn't occur,” Prayut informed reporters. “I'm extraordinarily sorry for individuals who had been injured and misplaced [their loved ones].”
Gun legal guidelines are strict in Thailand the place possession of an unlawful firearm carries a jail sentence of as much as 10 years, however possession is excessive in contrast with another international locations within the area.
Mass shootings are uncommon in Thailand however in 2020 a soldier offended over a property deal killed a minimum of 29 individuals and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned 4 places.
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