A 14 year old student allegedly stole his father’s service pistol and opened fire in a shooting at a secondary school in Kamphaeng Phet yesterday, September 2, before being talked down by a rescue volunteer and taken into custody, police and family members say. No one was injured.
Police say the boy, who was already on a break from classes at the time, broke into his father’s car to take the 9mm pistol before returning to Wachirapragarn Wittayakom School in Nakhon Chum subdistrict, Mueang district, Kamphaeng Phet province at around 2pm.
According to Police Colonel Anek Chansorn, Deputy Commander of the Kamphaeng Phet Provincial Police, the boy first fired at a security guard near the school gate, missing him, then walked toward a group of people inside the school compound and fired again without hitting anyone.
He is then said to have gone looking for a female teacher, but reportedly did not find her as she had hidden in a classroom.
Officers recovered spent and unspent shell casings at several points around the school, including near the guard post, in front of a physical education building, and by a glass door with a single bullet hole.
A teacher’s car was also struck once, with the bullet passing through the rear window and hitting the dashboard. Police say the boy fired at six locations in total, though the exact number of shots remains unclear.
No one was injured or killed. Police, along with volunteers from the Kamphaeng Phet Photo News Rescue Association, were able to defuse the situation and take the boy into custody.
Timeline of events
A rescue volunteer with the association, 29 year old Nathaphon Sinphun, said his younger brother, a student at the school, called to alert him to the incident. When Nathaphon arrived, he said the boy was on the third floor of a school building holding the pistol.
As the boy came down the stairs, Nathaphon said he approached him and asked him to put the gun down and stay calm, at which point the boy complied and lay down on the ground as instructed.
Nathaphon said the boy told him he had come under pressure from classmates and a teacher who had allegedly exposed personal information about him, causing him embarrassment, and that he had gone looking for the teacher to shoot her.
What specifically the boy alleged against the teacher has not been made public and remains unconfirmed.
A warning unheeded
Head of the rescue association and Nathaphon’s relative, 50 year old Somyot Sinphun, said he had raised concerns with school administrators around two weeks earlier after the boy posted a photo of his father’s pistol online along with a threat to attack the school.
He said school leadership had indicated the situation was under control.
Kamphaeng Phet officials and police were on site along with rescue personnel to support students, teachers, and parents gathering to collect their children. All students were released from the school safely.
Pol. Col. Anek said the boy has been receiving treatment for depression and had been on a break from classes for two weeks prior to the incident. He said the suspension from school may be linked to the boy’s motive, though the exact cause remains under investigation, pending assessment by medical specialists on his mental state.
Family’s accounts
The boy’s 22 year old brother, who spoke with him following the incident, said he was not aware of the specific reasons behind his brother’s actions and asked the public for understanding, saying his brother had not shown aggressive behaviour at home and that the family had not been told about the school suspension until recently.
The boy’s mother told reporters he had been under stress from being bullied by classmates and had been receiving medication for the condition, which she said had been helping. She said he had also been affected by his parents’ separation and had asked to stay with her for the two weeks prior to the incident, saying he found living with his father, a police officer, stressful.
She said messages he had exchanged with friends about bringing a gun to the school had previously circulated and caused concern, but she had not expected him to act on them.
Police have taken the boy into custody for further questioning at Mueang Kamphaeng Phet Police Station, where multidisciplinary teams, including relevant welfare and mental health agencies, are expected to be involved in assessing the case.
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The story Motive emerges in Kamphaeng Phet school shooting scare as seen on Thaiger News.
