Thai student kills five people and himself in shooting at school near Bangkok

Bangkok, Thailand. A 14-year-old student killed at least five people, including his grandparents, and then himself in a shooting at Debsirin Nonthaburi School on the northwestern outskirts of Bangkok on Friday, police said. Twenty-three people were wounded.

Police investigation

Police said the teenager used a gun belonging to his grandfather and fired at least 26 rounds. Officers found an additional 34 rounds of ammunition.

Those killed at the school were teachers and staff, police said. Education Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong said teachers and students were among the casualties and that the motive was under investigation.

Emergency response

Students left the school as injured people were taken to ambulances. Teachers hugged one another and cried.

Emergency worker Kiatikhun Verapongpradith said his team arrived while the shooting was continuing and treated students with injuries to their backs, chests and arms. He said they found a male teacher dead on an upper floor and a female teacher in another room with chest and arm wounds.

Kiatikhun said he was called to treat the teenage shooter after hearing a final gunshot.

Witness account

An 18-year-old student told Reuters he initially believed the sounds were firecrackers or someone banging an object.

“I didn’t think it was a gun at first,” he said. “There were many shots: bang, bang, bang. Then it went quiet. Then it started again.”

Previous shootings

The incident was Thailand’s worst mass killing since 2022 and the second school shooting in the country this year. A teacher was killed and a student injured in a shooting in southern Thailand in February.