At least 35 people, including children, were killed when a former police officer in Thailand opened fire at a daycare centre before turning the gun on his own family and then himself.
At around 12:30 p.m. (05:30 GMT) on Thursday, the assailant, who was carrying a shotgun, a pistol, and a knife, started the killing rampage in Nong Bua Lamphu province before escaping in a pick-up truck.
At least 24 children and 11 adults were killed in a shooting spree at a childcare centre in the northeastern town of Nong Bua Lamphu on Thursday afternoon, according to Thai authorities. Panya Khamraa was a discredited police officer who was embroiled in an ongoing court case for trafficking drugs. 540 kilometres separate the village from Bangkok.
At least 23 children were among the dead, according to police colonel Jakkapat Vijitraithaya. According to a witness, the shooter broke into a closed room where kids were sleeping at the time.
According to Jakkapat, the shooter killed his wife and child after the attack by returning home.
Former police officer Panya Khamrab, 34, was identified as the attacker. According to Jakkapat, Khamrab was fired from the force last year due to drug use.
The attacker stormed into the facility, as stated by Nanthicha Punchum, the acting head of the nursery.
“There were some staff eating lunch outside the nursery and the attacker parked his car and shot four of them dead,” she said. “The shooter smashed down the door with his leg and then came inside and started slashing the children’s heads with a knife.”
The majority of the children at the childcare centre in Uthai Sawan, a town 500 kilometres (310 miles) northeast of Bangkok, were stabbed to death, according to authorities.
Parents in tears in a shelter outside the nursery, a yellow one-story building situated in a garden, were seen in footage taken after the incident.
A teacher who was eight months pregnant was among the four or five employees the perpetrator initially shot, according to Jidapa. “At first, many believed it to be fireworks… It’s quite startling. Once we realised there was gunfire, we fled to safety out of fear. I’ve never seen anything like it — there were so many children slaughtered.
At least two bodies were visible in photographs lying on the center’s floor and being covered in white sheets.
Witness Paweena Purichan, 31, was riding her motorcycle to her shop when she encountered the fleeing assailant driving erratically. “He intended to crash into others on the road,” she said.
“The attacker rammed a motorbike and two people were injured. I sped off to get away from him. There was blood everywhere.”
