A suicide bomber killed 34 people, including wives, children and 22 children, in a mass shooting at a children’s day care center in Thailand’s northeastern province on Thursday.
The Bangkok Post reported that the attacker, former police officer Cpl Panya Khamrab (34), fled in a pickup truck after the murder. The Central Bureau of Investigation said on its Facebook page that the gunman shot himself dead after the murder.
His wife and children are also among the dead, according to media reports.
The dead included both children and adults, police said in a statement. The gunman is a former police officer. The incident is under investigation.
Deputy National Police Chief Pol Lt. Gen. Torsak Sukvimol released the initial details. In the details, he said, 34 people were killed when former Pole Cpl Pania Khamrab opened fire at a child care center run by the Uthai Sawan Tambon Administration in Na Klang district. 22 of them were children.
At least 12 others were injured and eight of them were in critical condition, he said.
However, nothing is yet known about the reason why the attacker did this.
According to the Bangkok Post, former Pole Cpl Panya (34) was expelled from the police force on June 15 this year for drug possession. He was arrested on January 20. He also admitted the charges.
National Police Chief Pol General Damrangsak Kittiprapas expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
Thailand has a higher rate of gun ownership than other countries in the region but official statistics do not include the large number of illegal weapons. Most of these have been smuggled across the border from conflict-torn neighbors over the years.
While mass incidents are rare in the country, in 2020 a soldier angry over a property deal went on a rampage across four locations. At least 29 people were killed and 57 injured in the incident.
(06 October)