A former police officer killed more than 30 people, including at least 22 children, at a preschool in Thailand on Thursday, according to police. The attacker, who had been fired from the force for his relationship with drugs, also killed his wife and son before committing suicide.
The attack took place in the town of Uthai Sawan, in the province of Nong Bua Lamphu, in the northeast of the country, at around 12:30 noon (local time). According to the first accounts, there were about 30 minors in the nursery - some as young as 2 years old - when an armed man broke into it and attacked those present, including an eight-month pregnant teacher. "At first, people thought it was fireworks," district official Jidapa Boonsom told Reuters.
Initial reports suggest that the perpetrator of the massacre was former police officer Panya Kamrab, 34, who had been fired from the force last year after being arrested for possession of methamphetamine, according to the Royal Thai Police.
According to the local media The Daily News, after the massacre, the attacker left the center in a vehicle and returned home, where he killed his wife and son before committing suicide. "We confirm that the criminal shot himself and has died," the police said in an official Facebook profile.
The images provided by the Police show numerous corpses scattered throughout different rooms, some covered with white sheets.
Many of the injured, whose exact number is still unknown, have been transferred to the Nong Bua Lamphu hospital, which has "urgently" requested that citizens donate blood of all types, according to local media.
Relatives of the victims went to the compound that was cordoned off by the police, and many of them succumbed to despair, as can be seen in images and videos circulating on social networks.
The country's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan Ocha sent his condolences to the victims and called on all government agencies to help the injured.
Thailand is a country with a high rate of gun ownership compared to other countries in the region, and possessing illegal weapons, which enter through the porous borders of neighboring conflict zones, is not uncommon.
Still, mass shootings are not common in the country. The most notorious case took place in 2020, when a soldier enraged by a real estate deal gone wrong killed 29 people and injured 57 in a massacre that spanned four different settings, including a military base and a shopping mall.
