Fired policeman 'guns down' 32 people, including 23 children in Nong Bua Lamphu
A former policeman went on a shooting spree in a tambon administration organisation (TAO) and a nursery in Nong Bua Lamphu province in Northeast Thailand on Thursday afternoon before killing his family and himself. Police said 23 of the 32 people gunned down were children.
The Nong Bua Lamphu Police head office alerted local reporters that the shooting spree took place at around 1pm.
The alleged killer, Panya Khamrab, 34, was a former police corporal at Na Wang Police Station in the province’s Na Wang district. He was recently fired from duty for allegedly abusing drug.
Police said Panya entered the office of the Uthai Sawan TAO in Na Klong district and started shooting indiscriminately before he entered the nursery of the TAO and continued shooting.
Initially, police reported 24 people were killed but later raised the death toll to 32.
Police had issued a warning to the public to beware of a dangerous gunman fleeing in a white pickup truck.
Police who were in pursuit of the suspect found the pickup had been completely burned near his house. When police entered the house, they found Panya’s wife and young son had been killed and Panya is suspected of also turning the gun on himself.
Police Commissioner-General Pol General Damrongsak Kittiprapha flew to the crime scene in a helicopter to oversee the investigation.
