Thailand school shooting leaves seven dead and 15 injured by student gunman

Debsirin Nonthaburi School Shooting

A school shooting at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Thailand has left at least four people dead, including two students and two teachers, and 15 others injured, according to Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee. The incident occurred on Friday at the school, located in the Bang Kruai district of Nonthaburi province, north of Bangkok. According to Thai police, the suspected gunman was a student who opened fire at the school. Lt. Col. Dechrapee Kongdee, the Nonthaburi provincial police commander, confirmed that the suspected gunman had taken his own life. However, accounts differed on whether he was shot by police or died by suicide, with the Guardian reporting that he took his own life, and TRT World stating that it is unclear whether he was shot by police or died by suicide. The shooting took place at the prestigious Debsirin Nonthaburi school, which has an enrolment of about 3,100 students and 147 teachers, according to district authorities. The school is one of a network of Debsirin secondary schools, founded by the Thai royal family, with notable alumni including prime ministers, scholars, and writers. Images from the scene showed people standing outside the school comforting one another, while police and first responders walked around inside the school. A witness told reporters that students hid inside a classroom while they heard gunshots from another building before police officers knocked on the door and cleared a way for them to leave the building. One 18-year-old student told Reuters that he initially thought firecrackers were going off or someone was banging an object, but then realized it was a gun. He described hearing multiple shots before it went quiet, and then started again. The incident has reignited concerns over gun violence in Thailand, where an estimated 10 million firearms are in circulation despite repeated government pledges to tighten gun laws, according to TRT World. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul described the attack as a tragedy, saying "It's such a terrible incident. It should never have happened. How could this happen in our country?" The Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into how the teenager obtained the weapon. The shooting brought traffic around the school to a standstill as anxious parents rushed to collect their children. The attack is the latest in a series of high-profile shootings in Thailand, including a 2022 massacre at a nursery in northeastern Thailand in which an ex-policeman killed 36 people, including 24 children. The police have asked people to avoid the area as they remain at the scene, and officials have urged anyone trapped inside a building to hide and wait for rescue personnel to arrive. The incident comes months after a teacher died and a student was injured when a gunman opened fire at a school in Thailand's southern Hat Yai district in February, as reported by Live Mint. The latest attack has raised questions about gun control and school safety in Thailand, with many calling for stricter laws and increased security measures to prevent such incidents in the future. In the aftermath of the shooting, the community is left to mourn the loss of lives and try to make sense of the tragedy. The investigation into the incident is ongoing, and authorities are working to determine the motive behind the attack and how the gunman obtained the weapon. As the country struggles to come to terms with the latest incident of gun violence, many are left wondering what can be done to prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future.