Thailand School Shooting: Teacher and Gunman Dead, Four Injured
BANGKOK: A teacher and a gunman are dead, and four others are injured following a shooting at a school in Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok, according to Thai police. The incident occurred on Friday at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School in the Bang Kruai district.
Police identified the perpetrator as a student of the school. The gunman was among the deceased, authorities confirmed. The condition of the four injured individuals has not been officially disclosed, but emergency services were seen attending to victims at the scene.
Lt. Col. Pasakorn Chaitawiwong, head of the Plai Bang subdistrict police department, confirmed the fatalities and injuries to Reuters. He did not provide further details about the sequence of events or a possible motive.
Photographs circulated by emergency workers showed students streaming out of the school premises as ambulances arrived. One image depicted a person on a stretcher outside an ambulance, while another showed a medic attending to an individual. The school is located on the northwestern outskirts of Bangkok.
The incident has renewed concerns about school safety in Thailand, where gun violence, though not as frequent as in some other countries, has occurred in educational settings. In February of this year, a teacher died and a student was injured in a shooting at a school in Hat Yai district in southern Thailand.
Authorities have not yet released the names of the deceased or the injured, and an investigation is underway. Police have urged the public to avoid speculation while they piece together the events leading up to the shooting.
This incident follows a broader pattern of occasional gun attacks in Thailand, a country with relatively high gun ownership compared to its neighbours. However, mass shootings in schools remain rare. The government has not yet issued an official statement on the incident.
Local officials have assured that counselling will be provided to students and staff affected by the tragedy. The school has been temporarily closed as police conduct their investigation.