Alleged shooter of Surat Thani PEA office nabbed

Surat Thani police on Friday night arrested a 50-year-old local man after he allegedly shot at an office building of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) in Eipun subdistrict, Phra Saeng district, of Surat Thani province earlier the same evening.

Police said surveillance footage showed that the suspect, later identified as Somchai (last name withheld), rode a motorcycle to the building’s parking lot before firing multiple rounds from a shotgun and a handgun at the building, damaging glass doors and notice boards. He was allegedly also seen using the gun butt to break a window of a PEA vehicle parked nearby.

The suspect then rode the motorcycle to a nearby shopping mall at around 6pm while still carrying the firearms, causing people to run from the mall in panic, police said.

Police said they surrounded the mall, which was believed to be empty, until 8.30pm when the suspect walked out with the shotgun strapped on his back. He was stopped and arrested before he could reach the motorcycle. No injuries were reported during the incident.

Police said the suspect was carrying a Remington 870 Express Magnum shotgun with some shells, a .357 Smith & Wesson handgun with five bullets, and a combat knife with a sheath.

Somchai was taken to Phra Saeng police station for interrogation.

The suspect reportedly confessed to shooting up the PEA building in anger after he found out the authority had cut off electricity to his house and also removed the electricity meter.

He added that he had no money to pay the electrical bill and had called the PEA office asking it not to cut off the power.