A 14-year-old student fatally shot his grandparents at their home outside Bangkok on Friday and then killed five people at his school before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Thai police said.
The victims at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Bang Kruai district, Nonthaburi province, were teachers and staff, according to police. The teenager fired at least 26 rounds from a 9mm handgun that belonged to his grandfather. Police recovered an additional 34 rounds.
Twenty-three people were wounded, nine of them critically, authorities reported.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the gunman had lived with his grandparents and had suffered stress related to his studies. Officials discovered the grandparents’ bodies after the school shooting. Anutin described the attack as well prepared and said the government would pursue new firearms controls.
Students and staff fled the school as emergency workers treated the wounded. The incident is the second school shooting in Thailand this year.
Thailand has experienced several high-profile mass shootings in recent years and has one of the highest rates of civilian gun ownership in Southeast Asia, according to earlier estimates cited by Reuters.
Police have not publicly detailed a motive beyond the information on academic stress.
SOURCES: Reuters, BBC, Associated Press, Thai police statements via official channels
