Ex-police officer kills 32 people in Thailand

An ex-police officer went on a shooting spree at a daycare centre in eastern Thailand on Thursday, killing 34 people, including 22 children.

The officer allegedly killed his wife and child at their house later before turning the gun on himself, according to the police.

Police were able to identify the attacker as a former police officer who had been fired from his position last year due to drug-related allegations.

He had appeared in court just hours prior to the shooting, according to authorities, and was scheduled to go on trial for a drug offence.

Witnesses claimed the attacker was also spotted using a knife in the attack in the town of Uthai Sawan, 500 kilometres (310 miles) northeast of Bangkok in the province of Nong Bua Lamphu, according to district police official Chakkraphat Wichitvaidya.

Thirty children were at the centre when the shooter came, which was fewer than normal because heavy rain had kept many people away, according to district official Jidapa Boonsom, who was working in a nearby office at the time.

According to Jidapa, the shooter entered the childcare centre about lunchtime and shot four or five staff members there before moving on, noting that one of them was a teacher who was eight months pregnant.

At first, people thought the shots were fireworks, she said.

“It’s really shocking. We were very scared and ran to hide once we knew it was shooting. So many children got killed, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Jidapa claimed that the shooter broke into a closed room containing sleeping children.

She claimed that she believed he used a knife to murder children there.

Videos shared on social media showed what seemed to be children's bodies lying in bloody puddles with linens covering them.

Reuters was unable to immediately verify the footage.

According to police spokeswoman Paisan Luesomboon, the shooter went to the daycare centre to look for his child after attending a court hearing related to a drug case earlier on Thursday but the youngster was not present.

“He was already stressed and when he couldn’t find his child he was more stressed and started shooting,” Paisan said, adding that he had then driven home and killed his wife and child there before taking his own life.

Thailand has tight gun restrictions, and anyone found in possession of an illegal firearm faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years, yet the country has a higher rate of gun ownership than several other nations in the region.

Illegal weapons are frequently imported from nearby, conflict-ridden nations.

Mass shootings are uncommon, though.

In a four-location shooting spree in 2020, a soldier enraged over a property deal gone bad killed at least 29 individuals and injured 57 more.

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