Students fled Debsirin School in Nonthaburi, just outside Bangkok, on Friday morning after police say a 14-year-old boy opened fire while final classes of the week were under way. A seventh grader told the BBC she was standing in front of the teacher when she was shot, and witnesses described panic as the gunman moved from room to room.
Police say the boy killed five teachers and injured more than a dozen people, including fellow pupils, before turning the weapon on himself. Earlier, he had gunned down his grandparents.
Still in her uniform, with her mother beside her near the school gates, the shaken student said she climbed over a fence to escape with other friends. Her mother said the girl thought she might die.
“I was standing in front of the teacher when she was shot,”
“She was talking to me when [the gunman] showed up.”
“I had to climb over the school fence to escape with other friends,”
“[She said] 'I thought I'd never see you again'.”
Another student, aged 18, told he first believed he was hearing firecrackers.
“I didn't think it was a gun at first,”
“There were many shots: bang bang bang. Then it went quiet. Then it started again.”
Metres from the school gates, paramedics loaded the wounded into ambulances and rushed them to hospital as crowds hugged and cried. Rescue worker Kiatikhun Verapongpradith said he went to the scene after hearing children as young as 12 had been shot.
“I saw students who had been shot, some in the arm, some in the back, some in the chest. So I rushed to help get them to the hospital first,”
A grieving teacher told the BBC that one of his friends was among the dead.
“She was my age. We went to this school together as students. Then we both became teachers at this school,”
Authorities say the 14-year-old shot five teachers dead, and more than a dozen injuries have been reported. It is early days in the investigation and police have not said anything about a motive.
Investigators believe the 9mm handgun used by the shooter belonged to his grandfather, who was a teacher. Forensic officers found the gunman’s shots to be “quite accurate”, with several hitting “vital spots” on victims’ bodies.
Others are filling in some of the gaps. A teacher at the school has said the shooter was a good student — not aggressive and with good grades — and education authorities have described him as an avid gamer. Authorities say they will have many questions to answer in the coming days, including what changes the crime should trigger.
Why is this drawing renewed calls for gun control reform?
This is Thailand’s deadliest mass shooting in years, and the second at a school this year. In February, a head teacher and a female student were shot by an 18-year-old gunman during a school siege in southern Thailand.
Four years ago, a 34-year-old in the eastern Nong Bua Lamphu province killed 37 people, most of them preschoolers, in a shooting and stabbing at a nursery.
The shooting at Debsirin Nonthaburi School is the second in Thailand this year.
These crimes have resurfaced questions about gun control in the country. The boyfriend of one of the teachers who was killed said: “This shouldn't have happened,” speaking to reporters while clearly distressed and trying to hold back tears.
More than seven million people are believed to own guns in Thailand, one of the highest rates of ownership in the world. Of those, more than one million are unlicensed owners.
While there are restrictions on gun licences in Thailand, people can still acquire weapons, legally or illegally, with relative ease. There is also a thriving black market, aided by Thailand’s porous land borders with four other nations.
Problems with corruption and loose regulation in the police and military have seen weapons end up in the wrong hands. In response to Friday’s shooting, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he had tightened regulations when he was interior minister three years ago, suspending new gun permits.
But gun crime remains rife, with deaths from gunshots among the highest in the region. Some in the community are calling for greater action.
Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, leader of the People’s Party, an opposition party, wrote on Facebook that violence in an educational institution should prompt a serious review of gun control measures.
“An act of violence in an educational institution, which should be one of the safest places in our society, serves as a stark reminder for Thai society to seriously and systematically review gun control measures,”
Key Facts
- Police say a 14-year-old boy opened fire at Debsirin School in Nonthaburi on Friday morning.
- Authorities say five teachers were killed and more than a dozen people were injured.
- Police believe the 9mm handgun used belonged to the gunman’s grandfather, who was a teacher.
- Thailand has more than seven million gun owners, including more than one million unlicensed owners.
- This was Thailand’s deadliest mass shooting in years and the second at a school this year.
