At least 31 killed in mass shooting at Thai nursery

[MenInG]

At least 31 people have been killed in a gun and knife attack by a former police officer at a pre-school daycare centre in Thailand, police say.

Police say he killed himself and his family after a manhunt following the attack in Nong Bua Lamphu province.

Children and adults are among the casualties - police say the attacker shot and stabbed his victims before going on the run.

A motive is unclear. Reports say the officer had recently been dismissed.

Police say he was last seen driving a white-four door Toyota pick-up truck with Bangkok registration plates and named him as Panya Kamrab.

BBC

 

[Rana]

Poor babies

I hope the shooter is caught and lynched by the public! These people who kill babies deserve a slow and torturous death!

 

[sweep_shot]

Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun.

Tragic.

 

[MenInG]

Global leaders have been offering their sympathies to the families of the victims of this morning's attack.

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss tweeted that she was "shocked to hear of the horrific events in Thailand this morning".

"My thoughts are with all those affected and the first responders. The UK stands with the Thai people at this terrible time," she added.

Australian leader Anthony Albanese wrote that it was "impossible to comprehend the heartbreak" and said "all Australians send their love and condolences".

 

[MenInG]

Gunman drove into crowd before killing family

Police are giving more details about what happened.

The gunman became agitated after arriving at the nursery to find his child was not there, officers say.

He subsequently opened fire on and crashed his vehicle into a crowd of bystanders, before returning home and killing his wife and child, police spokesman Paisan Luesomboon said.

Eyewitness Paweena Purichan, 31, told the AFP news agency that she had encountered the gunman driving erratically after the attack.

"He intended to crash into others on the road," she said. "The attacker rammed a motorbike and two people were injured. I sped off to get away from him."

She added that the gunman was well known in the local area as a drug addict.

 

[MenInG]

An ex-policeman has killed at least 34 people, most of them children, in a gun and knife attack at a pre-school daycare centre in north-east Thailand.

Police say he then killed himself and his family after a manhunt following the attack in Nong Bua Lamphu province.

Children and adults are among the casualties at the nursery - police say the attacker shot and stabbed his victims before fleeing the scene.

The former officer, aged 34, was sacked last year for drug use, police said.

A teacher who survived the attack told Thailand's Thairath TV the gunman used to drop off his child at the nursery and had seemed polite. A motive for the attack remains unclear.

At least 22 children were among the dead in the mass killing in the town of Utthai Sawan. Some victims aged as young as two were attacked as they slept. A dozen people who were injured have been taken to Nong Bua Lamphu district hospital.

Follow our live coverage
"The shooter came in around lunchtime and shot four or five officials at the childcare centre first," a local official Jidapa Boonsom, who was working nearby, told Reuters news agency. One of them was a teacher who was eight months pregnant,

"At first people thought it was fireworks," she said, adding the gunman then forced entry to a locked room where children were sleeping.

 

[MenInG]

Thailand is mourning a gun and knife attack at a childcare centre where a man killed children as young as two while they slept.

Parents gathered outside the centre on Friday morning, weeping and clutching their children's favourite toys.

The attack on Thursday left 37 people, including 23 children dead. The perpetrator was an ex-policeman.

Flags across Thailand are flying at half-mast as the country grapples with the tragedy.

Police say the 34-year-old attacker killed himself and his family after a manhunt. The motive for the attack is not yet known. But police said the attacker was fired from his job in June for drug use.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, and Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn, together with the Queen, are expected to visit the community in Nong Bua Lamphu province later on Friday.

BBC