Former cop attacks Thai day care center, kills at least 36
Last edited Thu Oct 6, 2022, 12:44 PM - Edit history (3)
Source: AP
BANGKOK (AP) — A former police officer facing a drug charge burst into a day care center Thursday in Thailand, killing dozens of preschoolers and teachers and then shooting more people as he fled. At least 36 people were slain in the deadliest rampage in the nation’s history. The assailant, who was fired earlier this year, took his own life after killing his wife and child at home.
Photos taken by first responders showed the school’s floor littered with the tiny bodies of children still on their blankets, where they had been taking an afternoon nap. The images showed slashes to their faces and gunshots to their heads and pools of blood.
A teacher told ThaiPBS public broadcaster that the assailant got out of a car and immediately shot a man eating lunch outside, then fired more shots. When the attacker paused to reload, the teacher had an opportunity to run inside. “I ran to the back, the children were asleep,” said the young woman, who did not give her name, choking back her words. “The children were two or three years old.”
The attack took place in the rural town of Nongbua Lamphu in northeastern Thailand, in one of the country’s poorest regions.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/shootings-thailand-84efe7ba76707f4b3d47ee8394c4f24f
Article being updated.
Previous updates and headlines -
BANGKOK (AP) -- A former policeman facing a drug charge burst into a day care center in northeastern Thailand on Thursday, killing dozens of preschoolers and teachers before shooting more people as he fled in the deadliest rampage in the nation's history.
The assailant, who was fired from the force earlier this year, took his own life after killing his wife and child at home.
A witness said staff at the day care locked the door when they saw the assailant approaching with a gun, but he shot his way in. At least 37 people were killed in the attack in one of the poorest parts of Thailand, according to police spokesman Archayon Kraithong.
"The teacher who died, she had a child in her arms," the witness, whose name wasn't given, told Thailand's Kom Chad Luek television. "I didn't think he would kill children, but he shot at the door and shot right through it."
BANGKOK (AP) -- A gunman who attacked a child care center in Thailand and then fired from his car as he fled killed more than 30 people Thursday, including two dozen children, authorities said. It was the deadliest mass shooting in the country's history. The assailant, identified as a former police officer, killed his wife and child before taking his own life.
Photos and videos posted online of the day care showed the floor of one room was smeared with blood and sleeping mats scattered about. Pictures of the alphabet and other colorful decorations adorned the walls. In videos, frantic family members could be heard weeping outside the building. Ambulances stood by as police and medical workers walked around.
A witness told Thailand's Kom Chad Leuk television at the scene that they had locked the door to the building when they saw the suspect approaching with a handgun, but that he shot through it. "The teacher who died, she had a child in her arms," said the woman, whose name wasn't given. "I didn't think he would kill children, but he shot at the door and shot right through it."
Authorities identified the assailant as a former police officer and said he entered the child care center after noon in the northeastern Thai town of Nongbua Lamphu. Twenty-two children and two adults were killed in the building before the assailant fled, according to a police statement. But he continued to shoot people from his car, police Maj. Gen. Paisal Luesomboon told The Associated Press.
Last update and headline -
BANGKOK (AP) -- At least 24 children and 11 adults were killed Thursday in an attack that began at a childcare center in northeastern Thailand, authorities said.
The gunman then fled the scene, shooting from his car as he drove home, where he killed his wife and child before taking his own life, police said.
The initial attack came at about 12:30 p.m. when the man, identified as a former police officer, entered the childcare center in the town of Nongbua Lamphu, authorities said.
Nineteen boys, three girls and two adults were killed in the building before the assailant fled, according to a police statement.
Previous update and headline -
BANGKOK (AP) -- More than 30 people were killed Thursday when a gunman opened fire in a childcare center in northeastern Thailand, police said.
Police Maj. Gen. Achayon Kraithong said the shooting occurred early in the afternoon in the center in the town of Nongbua Lamphu.
He said the attacker killed 30 people before taking his own life. He had no more details.
A spokesperson for a regional public affairs office said 26 deaths have been confirmed so far -- 23 children, two teachers and one police officer. According to Thai media reports, the gunman also used knives in the attack and then fled the building.
Original article -
Police Maj. Gen. Achayon Kraithong said the gunman opened fire early in the afternoon in the center in the town of Nongbua Lamphu.
He said 30 people were killed but had no more details. Following the shooting the assailant took his own life.
A spokesperson for a regional public affairs office said 26 deaths have been confirmed so far -- 23 children, two teachers and one police officer.
Further details were not immediately available.
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