An 18-year-old suspect is in custody after a school shooting in southern Thailand that killed the principal and injured two students.
SONGKHLA: An 18-year-old suspect is in custody after a shooting at a school in southern Thailand that killed the principal and injured two students.
Police shot and arrested the teenager on Wednesday after he stormed into the Phatong Prathan Khiriwat School in Songkhla province with a gun.
School director Sasiphat Sinsamosorn died in hospital early on Thursday after being admitted with gunshot wounds.
Songkhla police chief Teerasak Chaiyotha told AFP she was shot before police intervened and apprehended the teenager.
The suspect was being treated in hospital after being grazed by a bullet and had not been charged pending an investigation.
Teerasak said police had responded to a report of a teenager “acting erratically”.
He told reporters the suspect was hospitalised for psychiatric treatment in December and had been discharged.
The teen stabbed a police officer with a knife and stole his 9mm pistol just before the incident at the school.
Sasiphat was shot in the chest and died in hospital from blood loss, the Songkhla public relations department said, calling her a “brave teacher”.
The school shared its “deepest condolences” in a Facebook post.
A teenage girl was also hospitalised with gunshot wounds and underwent surgery, according to the ministry of public health.
A second student was hurt after jumping from the second floor of the school building but had been discharged from hospital.
Classes would be cancelled for two days while authorities collected evidence and reviewed security measures.
Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region, with around 10 million firearms estimated to be in circulation.
Past promises of tightening gun laws have not prevented repeated shootings.
In 2022, an ex-policeman murdered 24 children and 12 adults in one of Thailand’s deadliest massacres.
