Recommended
A 14-year-old teenager, described by classmates as "disturbed," killed his grandparents in Thailand on Friday before heading to his secondary school, where he ended the lives of five other people.
Authorities initially announced eight deaths but later revised the toll to seven.
The student killed his grandparents at their home, located about 20 kilometers from the school, using a weapon that belonged to his grandfather, according to authorities.
Before committing suicide, he killed a math teacher, a Thai language teacher, a guidance counselor, a student affairs officer, and a school secretary, police specified.
The shooter had "clearly planned" the attack and killed himself with the weapon, stated Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul at the scene. He described him as a student who was "under pressure" at school.
Additionally, more than 30 people were injured, nine of whom are in serious condition, he noted.
"I heard a lot of gunshots, very loud, because it seemed like the shooter was on the floor right above me. I could even hear the casings hitting the floor and the sound of metal," declared Pawarisa Maylissa, a student.
"I was afraid of dying and not being able to pursue my dreams," she continued in front of the Debsirin school, in Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok.
Following the tragedy, parents rushed to the site to collect their children, while students and staff comforted each other outside.
Photos published by local media show the suspect dressed in a purple school uniform with a black bag slung over his shoulder, with several bullet casings visible on the ground.
- "Un chico trastornado" -
"He was a disturbed kid. My group of friends, who knew him, said he was interested in the FBI and weapons, and that many other students bullied him," Purin Khumchoo, 17, told AFP after narrowly escaping the gunfire.
"When I saw him pointing the gun at me, I thought he looked very professional, as if he had been training for a long time," the teenager added.
Fifteen students suffered injuries while trying to flee, declared Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee to the public broadcaster Thai PBS.
"I saw thousands of students running away. Some weren't even wearing their shoes," said Thongchai Thanakat, a motorcycle taxi driver who has been working in front of the school, which has a capacity of 3,000 students, for about twenty years.
"I'm still in shock," 16-year-old Thatchai Jaiyen told AFP, disbelieving the murder of one of his former teachers.
"She was such a kind person. I thought if she had crossed paths with the attacker, maybe she could have reasoned with him. She surely didn't expect that boy to shoot her," he added.
- Un "incidente terrible" -
According to the Prime Minister, the handgun the teenager accessed was legally registered.
It is a "terrible incident" that "should never have happened," he said. "That is why the government does not permit the possession of firearms," he added.
Thailand has one of the highest rates of firearm ownership in the region, with around 10 million in circulation, meaning one for every seven inhabitants.
Previous promises to tighten gun legislation have not prevented shootings from recurring.
In February, Thai police arrested a teenager who opened fire at a school in the south of the country, leaving one dead (the principal) and two students injured.
In 2022, a former police officer armed with a handgun and a knife burst into a daycare center in the north of the country and killed 24 children and 12 adults.
[Publicidad]