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Thailand: Many children among dead in pre-school attack Thailand shooting: Many children among dead in pre-school attack
(about 2 hours later)
At least 34 people have been killed and others injured in a gun and knife attack by a former police officer at a pre-school daycare centre in Thailand. The nursery after the killing spree - the attacker is reported to have shot and stabbed his victims
Police say he killed himself and his family after a manhunt following the attack in Nong Bua Lamphu province. An ex-policeman has killed at least 34 people, most of them children, in a gun and knife attack at a pre-school daycare centre in north-east Thailand.
Children and adults are among the casualties at the nursery - police say the attacker shot and stabbed his victims before going on the run. Police say he then killed himself and his family after a manhunt following the attack in Nong Bua Lamphu province.
A motive is unclear. Police say the officer was dismissed last year. Children and adults are among the casualties at the nursery - police say the attacker shot and stabbed his victims before fleeing the scene.
The victims of the attack are reported to include children as young as two. At least 12 people have been wounded. The former officer, aged 34, was sacked last year for drug use, police said.
"The shooter came in around lunch time and shot four or five officials at the childcare centre first," a local official Jidapa Boonsom, who was working nearby, told Reuters news agency. A teacher who survived the attack told Thailand's Thairath TV the gunman used to drop off his child at the nursery and had seemed polite. A motive for the attack remains unclear.
At least 22 children were among the dead in the mass killing in the town of Utthai Sawan. Some victims aged as young as two were attacked as they slept. A dozen people who were injured have been taken to Nong Bua Lamphu district hospital.
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"The shooter came in around lunchtime and shot four or five officials at the childcare centre first," a local official Jidapa Boonsom, who was working nearby, told Reuters news agency. One of them was a teacher who was eight months pregnant,
"At first people thought it was fireworks," she said, adding the gunman then forced entry to a locked room where children were sleeping."At first people thought it was fireworks," she said, adding the gunman then forced entry to a locked room where children were sleeping.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha described the shooting as "a shocking event".Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha described the shooting as "a shocking event".
Police named the attacker as Panya Kamrab. He fled the scene in a white-four door Toyota pick-up truck with Bangkok registration plates. Police named the attacker as Panya Kamrab, a local man who had been a police lieutenant colonel before he was dismissed last year for drug use.
Armed with a shotgun, a pistol and a knife, he stormed the nursery at about 12:30 pm (0530 GMT).
The details of what followed are still emerging, but after the killing spree the attacker fled the scene in a white-four door Toyota pick-up truck with Bangkok registration plates, according to police, who launched a search for him and warned locals to keep indoors for their own safety.
Eyewitnesses were quoted saying the attacker had driven into bystanders, injuring several people, as he made his escape.
#กราดยิง #หนองบัวลำภู Gunman identified by police as 34-year-old Panya Kamrab. He reportedly fled the scene in a white Toyota pick-up truck pic.twitter.com/LWSATXgy4K#กราดยิง #หนองบัวลำภู Gunman identified by police as 34-year-old Panya Kamrab. He reportedly fled the scene in a white Toyota pick-up truck pic.twitter.com/LWSATXgy4K
A senior police officer in Nong Bua Lamphu province said 23 children were among the casualties, AFP news agency reports. Police say Kamrab returned home, killing his wife and child before taking his own life.
He said Kamrab, a police lieutenant colonel, had been dismissed last year for drug use.
Mass shootings in Thailand are rare although gun ownership rates are relatively high for the region. Illegal weapons are also common in the south-east Asian country, according to the Reuters news agency.Mass shootings in Thailand are rare although gun ownership rates are relatively high for the region. Illegal weapons are also common in the south-east Asian country, according to the Reuters news agency.
The nursery attack comes less than a month after an army officer shot dead two of his colleagues at a base in Bangkok.The nursery attack comes less than a month after an army officer shot dead two of his colleagues at a base in Bangkok.
In 2020 a soldier killed 29 people and injured dozens more in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima.In 2020 a soldier killed 29 people and injured dozens more in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima.