A police officer has surrendered to face charges after allegedly firing a blank gun and threatening a group of young people in Udon Thani, though he has denied carrying and discharging a weapon while admitting to causing fright, police said today, September 3.
Two of the group, named as 23 year old Orn, and 18 year old Ood, along with relatives, told Mueang Udon Thani Police Station that a man dressed in clothing resembling a training uniform pulled up in a white sedan along a road where the group were located late at night on August 31.
According to the complaint, the man appeared to be intoxicated, got out of the car holding a handgun, fired one shot into the air, and told the group, which numbered seven or eight people, to leave the area where they had been sitting.
A five year old boy in the group was frightened and ran off crying, and the group later went to the police out of concern for their safety.
Police Colonel Phatthanawong Chanphon, superintendent of Mueang Udon Thani Police Station, said the man was later identified as a 36 year old police sub-lieutenant serving as a deputy inquiry officer with the Metropolitan Police.
He arrived at the station with a lawyer at 10am today, September 3, and surrendered at Mueang Udon Thani Police Station, handing over a blank gun.
Police have charged the officer with carrying a firearm in a town, village or public place without a licence to carry, discharging a firearm using explosive propellant without reasonable cause in a town, village or crowded place, and causing another person to feel fear or alarm through intimidation.
The officer denied the charges relating to carrying and discharging a firearm, but admitted to the charge of causing fear. He was then fingerprinted before being released, as he had turned himself in voluntarily and had a fixed, contactable address.
Investigators said any disciplinary action would be a matter for the officer’s own commanding officers.
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