Source: Reuters
In a knife and gun spree at a daycare Centre in Thailand on Thursday, a former policeman killed 38 people, including 22 children. He then shot dead his wife and child at their home before turning the pistol on himself, according to authorities.
They said that the majority of the kids at the daycare centre in Uthai Sawan(Thailand) a town 500 kilometres (310 miles) northeast of Bangkok, were stabbed to death.
The attacker was recognised by police as a former police officer who had been fired from his position last year due to drug charges and was currently in court on a drug charge.
According to police spokesperson Paisal Luesomboon, the guy had gone to the daycare centre to pick up his child after attending court earlier in the day.
According to Paisal, he started the murdering spree after failing to find his child there. At the Utai Sawan daycare facility, “he started shooting, slashing, and killing kids,” Paisal alleged.
Videos shared on social media revealed what seemed to be children’s bodies covered in sheets laying in the daycare center’s garden’s blood puddles.
However the footage is yet to be verified.
When the assailant arrived, there were fewer children at the facility than normal because of the severe rain that had kept many people away, according to district official Jidapa Boonsom, who was occupying a neighbouring office at the time.
She claimed that first, many mistook the shots for fireworks.
“It’s quite startling. Once we realised there was gunfire, we fled for cover in great fear. I’ve never seen anything like it—there were so many children slaughtered.”
The perpetrator broke into a closed room where the kids were sleeping, according to Jidapa. She added that a teacher who was eight months pregnant was also stabbed to death and that she believed he had killed children there with a knife.
In a message posted to Facebook, the prime minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha described the shooting as “a shocking act”.
In the statement, he stated, “I have instructed the police chief to go to the area right now to conduct the appropriate actions and all relevant parties to provide prompt help to all affected persons.”
According to his office, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan would visit the scene on Thursday in Uthai Sawan, Thailand.
By late afternoon, officials were stationed in front of the pink, one-story building that housed the childcare centre, which was flanked by a lawn and little palm trees.
Anxious-looking individuals gathered nearby in a gazebo, waiting for news mainly in silence. One woman’s sobbing could be heard.
Following were the captured moments:
Police spokeswoman Paisal told broadcaster ThaiPBS that the assailant, who was already agitated, became even more stressed when he couldn’t find his child. The attacker then drove home and killed his wife and child there before committing himself, Paisal added.
Thailand has severe gun restrictions, and anyone found in possession of an illicit handgun faces up to 10 years in prison. However, ownership is substantial in comparison to certain other Southeast Asian nations. Illegal weapons are frequently imported from nearby, conflict-ridden nations in Thailand.
However, according to the police, the gun used in the shooting was purchased legally.
Mass shootings are still uncommon in Thailand, but in 2020, a soldier who was upset about a bad real estate deal went on a four-location rampage that left at least 29 people dead and 57 injured.
