Thailand in grief after gunshot & brutal stabbing deaths of children

• Thailand in grief after gunshot & brutal stabbing deaths of children.
• Attacker shot and stabbed children at the centre in Uthai Sawan.
• Children at the childcare centre varied in age from two to five years.

37 people were slain, including children, in a violent gun and knife attack at a preschool centre in the rural north-east of Thailand on Friday.

Before midday on Thursday, the attacker, a former police officer, shot and stabbed children at the centre in Uthai Sawan, a town 500 kilometres (310 miles) northeast of Bangkok, according to police and witnesses.

The perpetrator exited the nursery, drove his car toward onlookers, and fired at them before returning home and killing his wife, child, and himself.

According to a local authority, the children at the childcare centre varied in age from two to five years. There were 23 child fatalities.

On Friday, the Thai government issued an order for all Thai flags to be flown at half-staff in anticipation of the afternoon visit by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha. He remarked on Thursday, “This shouldn’t happen.” I am incredibly sad for the victims and their loved ones.

On Friday, King Maha Vajiralongkorn was also anticipated in the area to speak with victims at nearby hospitals.

Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, predicted that “all Thai people, and all people around the world who know about this… will feel extremely unhappy and devastated.”

On Friday morning, bereaved relatives gathered in rows in a corridor next to the centre as they stood in line to register their documents with officials. Many were dressed in black.

Several of the victims’ families stayed at the nursery well into the evening. They were joined by mental health professionals, according to Thai TBS television.

According to police and witness testimonies, the attack on Thursday started just after noon. According to a teacher who spoke to Thai PBS, the attacker stepped out of a car, shot a man who was eating lunch outside right away, and then continued to fire rounds. The teacher had a chance to flee inside when the attacker stopped to reload.

The young mother, who declined to provide her name, choked back her words as she continued, “I hurried to the rear, the kids were asleep. The kids were between two and three years old.

According to a second witness, the daycare center’s personnel had closed the door, but the suspect managed to shoot his way inside.

The unnamed witness told Thailand’s Kom Chad Luek television, “The teacher who died, she had a child in her arms.” “He shot at the door and shot right through it,” the witness said, “but I didn’t imagine he would murder kids.

“Nobody wants to witness this spectacle. First response team leader Piyalak Kingkaew told Reuters, “It was horrible from the first step when I stepped in.

We’ve been through it before, but because the victims are young children, this tragedy is particularly terrifying.

According to police spokesperson Archayon Kraithong, at least 10 individuals were injured, including six who were critically hurt. Three boys and a girl were among those hurt.

Despite the high rates of gun ownership in Thailand, mass shootings are uncommon there. The assault occurs two years after a soldier enraged with his superiors opened fire in a crowd of people at a mall in Nakhon Ratchasima.

The Bangkok Post’s editorial on Friday stated: “Both examples raise concerns about the army’s and the Royal Thai Police’s [RTP] recruitment procedures.

People will, first and foremost, want to know how the RTP employed a man who purportedly told his superior that he had been using drugs since he was a youngster. Additionally, he had been punishment for bad behavior multiple times.

Panya Khamrab, a 34-year-old former police lieutenant colonel who had been sacked from the force since January for possessing methamphetamine, was named by authorities as the attacker. He was formally let go in June. He had already made an appearance in court on Thursday for a narcotics charge, and he was scheduled to do so once more on Friday.

According to officials, an autopsy’s findings will reveal whether or not he used narcotics before the incident. Police head Damrongsak Kittiprapat stated, “Primarily, we assume that it’s because of the narcotics and the stress [before his court appearance].

Considering the debt the former policeman had racked up and his drug use, Panya’s mother told Nation TV, “I don’t know [why he did this], but he was under a lot of strain.”

Politicians from all across the world, including the British prime minister Liz Truss and her Australian colleague Anthony Albanese, expressed their condolences.

“I’m extremely shocked by the terrible shooting at a childcare center in Thailand,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said. Children should never feel threatened in learning environments. My sympathies go out to the Thai people as well as the family ones of the deceased.

Also Read

Thailand officials to visit victims and families from child care center massacre

King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida of Thailand will travel to a...