Thailand high school shooting leaves 5 dead after teen suspect kills his grandparents, officials say

Nonthaburi, Thailand — A 14-year-old boy in Thailand, described as "troubled" and "bullied" by a classmate, killed his grandparents before shooting five more people dead at a high school on Friday, police said.

First he shot his two grandparents, using his grandfather's handgun, then went to the school in Nonthaburi province, outside Bangkok, and killed five school staff members, national police said in a statement.

The 14-year-old also died, the statement said, with a police official telling AFP he had died by suicide.

Officials earlier gave a higher death toll and initially said students were among the victims.

Dozens of police and emergency responders gathered outside the cordoned-off Debsirin Nonthaburi School, while parents waited to pick up their children and tearful students and staff comforted each other outside.

"I was afraid that I would die, and I was scared that I wouldn't be able to pursue my dreams," said Pawarisa Maylissa, a grade 12 student who hopes to attend medical school. "I heard many gunshots very loudly because it seemed the suspect was on the floor directly above us," she said.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters at the scene that "police interrogated his close friend who said the suspect had been under stress" involving his schooling.

"His actions also suggested that he had clearly planned" the assault, Anutin added.

"The gun was a registered firearm and was kept at a house, but somehow he gained access to it."

The prime minister said more than 30 people were injured, with around nine in critical condition.

The shooter was identified by local media as a student of the school.

The Reuters news agency, citing police, reported that the gunman fired at least 26 bullets and was found with 34 more rounds.

A "troubled kid"

Purin Khumchoo, 17, said he was among the students who'd nearly been shot.

"He was my junior, but I had a feeling that he was a troubled kid. My group of friends who knew him said he was interested in the FBI and guns, and that he was bullied by many other students," Purin told AFP outside the school. "When I saw him aiming the gun at me, I thought he looked very professional, as if he had been trained for a long time."

Photos published by local media show the suspect wearing a purple school uniform and carrying a black cross-body bag, with several bullet casings visible on the ground.

An AFP journalist saw a dozen mental health workers arriving at the school, where traffic was nearly at a standstill.

Education Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong pledged to provide mental health assistance to students and ramp up security measures at educational institutions.

"We haven't checked whether students have brought weapons to school. Our level of security is not that tight," he told reporters at the school.

Thongchai Thanakat, a motorcycle-taxi driver who's worked in the area for 20 years, said he was waiting to pick up passengers outside the school when he heard more than 10 gunshots and saw a stream of students rushing out.

"Some of them weren't even wearing shoes," he told AFP. "I feel very bad for one student whose body I saw after he was shot right through his head. It was very emotional for me."

A "terrible incident"

Anutin, the prime minister, said the shooting "should never have happened."

"It's such a terrible incident," he told reporters at Bangkok's Government House. "How could this happen in our country?"

Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region, with an estimated 10 million firearms in circulation — one for every seven inhabitants.

Past promises of tightened gun laws haven't prevented repeated shootings.

Anutin told reporters he would discuss gun control with the country's police chief.

Earlier Thai school shootings   

Thai police shot and arrested a teenager who opened fire at a school in the south of the country in February, killing the principal and wounding two students. The teen had used a police officer's weapon in the shooting.

A local police chief said at the time that the suspect was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment in December and had been discharged.

The teen stabbed a police officer with a knife and stole his weapon — a 9mm pistol — just before the incident, then used it to carry out the attack.

In 2022, an ex-policeman armed with a gun and knife stormed into a nursery in the country's north and murdered 24 children and 12 adults in one of Thailand's deadliest massacres.