Officials outside a nursery in the northern Thai province of Nong Bua Lam Phu, where a former policeman shot dead at least 30 people in a mass shooting. Photo: AFP / THAI PBS VIA AFPTV
A former policeman killed 37 people including 22 children in an attack on 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, who was armed with a gun and a knife, as a former member of the force who was dismissed from his post last year over drug allegations and he was facing trial on a drugs charge.
The man had been in court earlier in the day and had then gone to the daycare centre to collect his child, police spokesperson Paisal Luesomboon told broadcaster ThaiPBS.
When he did not find his child there, he began killing, Paisal said. "He started shooting, slashing, killing children at the Utai Sawan daycare centre," Paisal said.
Most of the children who died were stabbed to death, police said. The age range of children at the daycare centre in the town of Uthai Sawan, 500km northeast of Bangkok was from two to five years, a local official told Reuters.
About 30 children were at the centre when the gunman arrived, fewer than usual, as heavy rain had kept many people away, district official Jidapa Boonsom, who was working in a nearby office at the time, told Reuters.
"The shooter came in around lunch time and shot four or five officials at the childcare centre first," said Jidapa, adding that among them was a teacher who was eight months pregnant.
At first people thought the shots were fireworks, she said.
"It's really shocking. We were very scared and running to hide once we knew it was shooting. So many children got killed, I've never seen anything like it."
The gunman forced his way into a locked room where children were sleeping, Jidapa said. She said she thought he killed children there with a knife.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, in a statement on Facebook, called Thursday's shooting a "shocking incident".
"I have ordered the police chief to travel to the scene immediately to take necessary actions and all involved parties to provide immediate relief to all affected people," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan travelled on Thursday to Uthai Sawan to meet victims' families on Thursday, his office said, while the prime minister was expected to visit on Friday.
The government said it would provide financial aid to the victims' families to help cover funeral expenses and medical treatment.
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.
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 the region.
Illegal weapons, many brought in from strife-torn neighbouring countries, are common.
However, mass shootings are rare. 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