Six people have died in a shooting in Bangkok after a 14-year-old student opened fire at a school.
The gunman started firing from inside the Debsirin Nonthaburi School on the outskirts of Bangkok, shortly after 10am local time, reportedly killing six people and injuring at least 15 others.
Thai police and local reports have said that the suspected shooter, understood to be a 14-year-old student at the school, is also dead.
The suspect was reportedly seen reloading ammunition inside the building, according to sources at the scene.
Images from the scene about an hour after the shooting showed people standing outside the school comforting one another and police and first responders walking 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.
Photos published by local media show the suspect wearing a purple school uniform and carrying a black cross-body bag, with several bullet casings visible on the ground.
‘It’s such a terrible incident. It should never have happened. How could this happen in our country?,’ Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters at Bangkok’s Government House.
Emergency services at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province northwest of the national capital
A student reunites with a relative after being evacuated from Debsirin Nonthaburi School
Armed police officer enters Debsirin Nonthaburi School, following a shooting incident at the school
Students, emergency personnel and other people stand outside Debsirin Nonthaburi School, after a shooting incident at the schoo
Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said the suspect used a handgun (pictured) and the interior ministry was investigating how the student obtained it
An injured teacher receives medical attention inside an ambulance at Debsirin Nonthaburi School
Emergency services stand outside Debsirin Nonthaburi School
Students flee from the Debsirin Nonthaburi School after the shooting took place
The suspect was reportedly seen reloading ammunition inside the building, according to sources at the scene. Pictured: The gun used in the shooting
Students walk by emergency personnel as they evacuate from Debsirin Nonthaburi School
An ambulance believed to be carrying the shooter leaves the Debsirin Nonthaburi School
Ambulances tush to Debsirin Nonthaburi School, the site of a shooting incident
The Debsirin School is a well-known secondary school in Thailand and has branches across the country.
The original Debsirin School in Bangkok was founded by Thai King Chulalongkorn in 1885.
Its school in Nonthaburi, where the shooting has taken place, is situated in the northwestern outskirts of Bangkok.
At least two students and two teachers were killed, deputy interior minister Polapee Suwunchwee told local broadcaster Thai PBS.
The injured students were not hurt by gunfire, but as they were trying to flee, he said.
Mr Suwunchwee said the suspect used a handgun and the interior ministry was investigating how the student obtained it.
Emergency radio communications requested a medical team to respond to the 6th floor of Building 5, where one victim was undergoing CPR.
Police Colonel Phatsakorn Chaitaweewong, superintendent of Plai Bang Police Station, confirmed the shooting took place inside the school and urged the public not to livestream the incident, saying authorities have not yet brought the situation under control.
The officer said: ‘The public and parents should avoid the area and follow official updates.’
Armed response units were deployed and were working to secure the school. Students and staff were also being evacuated from the campus as the operation continues.
Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region, with around 10 million firearms estimated to be in circulation – one for every seven inhabitants.
In February, police shot and arrested a teenage shooter who opened fire at a school in the south of the country in February, leaving the school principal dead and two students injured.
The teen had used a police officer’s weapon in the shooting.
A local police chief said at the time that the suspect was hospitalised for psychiatric treatment in December and had been discharged.
The teen stabbed a police officer with a knife and stole his weapon – a 9mm pistol – just before the incident, and then used it to carry out the attack.
In 2022, an ex-policeman armed with a gun and a knife stormed into a nursery in the country’s north and murdered 24 children and 12 adults, one of Thailand’s deadliest massacres.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow
