A shooting scare that shut down Loei Pittayakom School for a day traced back to anger over a police stop, not a planned attack, officers investigating the case reported today, August 14.
The school, in tambon Kudpong, Muang district, moved lessons online for one day after a friend of a Matthayom Suksa 2 (Grade 8) student alerted a teacher yesterday evening to chat messages suggesting the student was planning to carry out a shooting on campus.
Parents were told via the school’s Line group late that night that classes would go online, with teachers and staff working from home until the situation settled. This morning, school administrators oversaw security at the gate while lessons continued remotely.
Loei Deputy Governor Pairin Limcharoen, Muang District Chief Pracha Saenklang, Muang Loei Police Superintendent Pol. Col. Worachai Bangyeekhan and School Director Dr Jittisak Namwongsa met at the school that morning, along with other relevant agencies, to review security measures.
According to the police superintendent, investigators traced the chat messages to the student in question and brought him in for questioning at Muang Loei Police Station. The weapon shown in his messages was identified as an air pistol. No charges had been filed as of the time of reporting.
Police said the message stemmed from an unrelated incident in which the student and a friend had been stopped by police for riding a motorcycle illegally. Angry at being caught, the student allegedly sent a friend a message joking that he would shoot the officer who had stopped him, along with a photo of the air pistol.
That friend then forwarded the message on, and it spread further until it was read by others as a threat against the school itself.
Dr Jittisak said the student had shown no concerning behaviour before this and suggested it may have been intended as a joke. He added that the school’s administration team had visited the student’s home once the messages came to light.
The school administrator who spoke to reporters said the student had been disciplined roughly two months earlier for bringing a realistic-looking toy gun onto campus and playing with it in front of friends, and that teachers had noted a broader interest in firearms.
School executives plan to meet separately with the student and his parents for closer supervision going forward.
Manager Online separately reported that the student had recently posted photographs online, including one showing him cleaning a firearm, and another that appeared to show him holding a gun near his own head while lying on a bed.
The scare comes amid heightened nationwide alert following the August 7 shooting at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, in which a 14 year old student shot and killed his grandparents, five school staff members and a student, and injured dozens more, before taking his own life.
The government has since ordered schools across the country to tighten security, and Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordered the Ministry of Interior and police to stop issuing firearm licences.
The story Loei school shooting threat shuts down classes for a day as seen on Thaiger News.
