Story by Shweta Sharma
A 14-year-old boy has gone on a shooting rampage in Thailand, killing at least seven people – including his own grandparents – before targeting pupils and teachers at his school.
The shooter, a Grade Nine student, turned on his grandparents at the home he shared with them on Friday morning before attacking the high school and injuring 23 others in the country’s worst mass shooting since 2022.
The police said the teenager fired at least 26 bullets using a gun that belonged to his grandfather. An additional 34 rounds were found. The suspected shooter died by suicide.
The attack began at around 10am local time at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in the Bang Kruai district of Nonthaburi province, located just outside Bangkok.
The student appeared to have shot his grandparents before attending school as normal. He waited until lessons started and began shooting inside his classroom before walking out and firing more shots, police spokesperson Trairong Piwpan said.
Amporn Niamfuang, who owns a restaurant 50 meters from the school, said there was the sound of a single gunshot and then a pause.
“And then there were multiple continuous shots,” he added, recalling how the narrow road outside the restaurant filled with terrified students.
“Students were running scared and pouring onto the street. Young girls were holding each other’s hands and crying.”
As the incident unfolded, police urged people to hide and wait for the authorities, saying that the shooter was believed to be inside a computer room.
Thai police said five victims died at the school, which teaches about 3,000 students ranging from 12 to 18, and of those injured, 10 remain in critical condition.
Students were seen streaming out of the school, on the capital’s northwestern outskirts, as the wounded were loaded on to ambulances and teachers hugged each other and cried.
A video, shared to the police’s Facebook handle, showed students crouching under desks inside a classroom as gunfire rang out in the background.
“Who is still stuck there? Hide securely,” the police wrote on their Facebook page as the attack took place.
A picture also showed one person lying on a stretcher outside an ambulance while a medic attended to another person.
An 18-year-old student said he first thought firecrackers were going off or someone was banging an object.
“I didn’t think it was a gun at first,” he said. “There were many shots: bang bang bang. Then it went quiet. Then it started again.”
The suspect barricaded himself on the third floor of the school’s building, according to a local media report.
As the incident unfolded, police urged the public and media to stop livestreaming the incident and evacuated the teachers and students.
Emergency worker Kiatikhun Verapongpradith, 47, described arriving as the shooting was ongoing and said his team treated students with injuries in the back, chest and arms.
They found a male teacher lying dead on an upper floor of the school, and in another room they found a female teacher with wounds to her chest and arm.
“We gave CPR for about 30 minutes and rushed her to the hospital as we could not get her heart rate up, but we tried our best,” he said.
The motive for the shooting is still being investigated, education minister Prasert Jantararuangtong told reporters.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, speaking after touring the school, said the student had shown signs of stress connected to school.
All classes will be suspended next week, and school staff have been instructed to work from home during that time.
Friday’s incident is the second major school shooting in Thailand this year.
In February, a 17-year-old entered Patongprathankiriwat School in Hat Yai district, Songkhla province, after stealing a firearm from a police officer.
The student shot at the school director and a female student, briefly taking several teachers and students hostage. The school director died, and the shooter was eventually detained by police.
